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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S DESK 
How current are your staff’s drivers licences?
An active member recently raised a concern over a staff member who was found to be driving without a valid drivers licence !
What could he do? The guy had had an accident and now the XYZ was going to hit the fan. Of course the questions that had to be asked were:
- How often do you check licence validity ?
- When was the last time you had checked licences ?
- Do you have a policy in place regarding drivers licence ?
- How do you record drivers licence information ?
All the questions could be answered with a yes of some description but unfortunately yes is not sufficient.
- Yes we ask staff to present their licence.
- Yes we check the validity, staff are asked to present a valid licence once a year – whoops so for 11 months and 29 days he or she could be unlicensed.
- Yes we expect staff to hold a licence – which staff? All staff, all staff who may drive for you or just those that will be driving as part of their employment.
- Yes we copy the drivers licence and keep it in a staff members employment file—are they actually read or just filed, has a licence been endorsed , does a licence in any way have a restriction placed on it?
As you can see it can be very easy to leave yourselves exposed.
How to fix a problem before it starts:
Put a policy in place directly related to licences and the driving of vehicles both your own and customers.
Your policy should clearly state your expectations and who will be permitted to drive a vehicle.
The key to your whole policy must be for you to determine who is required to have a current licence as part of their duty statement and employment criteria and you lay it out in all standards and employment contracts.
Further you place a requirement on the staff that they are required to maintain the integrity of their licence.
But most importantly you must place the onus on all your staff even those that may not drive for you regularly as part of their employment “They Must Notify You” if the status of their drivers licence changes.
You can’t and wouldn’t want to sack an employee for a loss of a licence but you can include a statement to the effect “that failure to notify management of a loss of licence could result in termination of employment.”
Staff are not going to be terminated for loss of licence but for deception and failure to comply with their part of an employment contract.
It will pay to check for many reasons I am sure you are all aware of.
Repairable write offs
The old bogey man repairable write offs has again reared his ugly head with dealers still getting caught.
Why does it continue to happen! Well other than a lack of access to data that would make things a lot easier it really boils down to laziness by staff.
Too eager to make that sale is costing people too much money.
Check It Out- VCheck Vehicle History Check will in most cases give you the information needed for you to determine the status of a vehicle.
Yes it costs but is it cheaper to spend $35-$40 now or look at having to take a vehicle back or spend many hundreds of dollars verifying the authenticity of a vehicle?
Smart operators will advise a customer that a V check may be required and add the cost of the check to the price of a new vehicle or subtract it from a trade in price.
A customer could be well pleased that you have taken the time to verify authenticity and will give the impression of a professional edge they may not have experienced elsewhere.
Remember
http://www.checkitout.com.au
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS UPDATE 
Notice of termination
The National Employment Standards provide that an employer must give an employee the following minimum period of notice in writing.
Not more than 1 years continuous service - 1 weeks notice
More than 1 year but not more than 3 years continuous service - 2 weeks notice
More than 3 years but not more than 5 years continuous service - 3 weeks notice
More than 5 years continuous service - 4 weeks notice.
Note: An employee over 45 years of age who has completed more than 2 years continuous service with the employer is entitled to an additional weeks notice of termination.
What if the employee does not work out the notice period?
If the employee does not wish to work out the notice period then the employee would not be paid the notice period in lieu. However, the employer should advise the employee in advance that not working out the notice period will result in them forgoing any payment in lieu for the notice period. It is advisable to confirm your agreement in writing to prevent any disputes from arising in the futue over whether or not the notice should have been paid.
If the employer does not wish the employee to work out the notice period, then the employer must pay the equivalent amount in lieu, and the employee can finish on the day they are advised of the termination of employment.
What happens if an employee works out the notice period?
The employee is entitled to have up to one day off without loss of pay for the purpose of seeking other employment. The time off is to be taken at times that are convenient to the employee after consultation with the employer.
What happens if an employee is made redundant?
An employee whose position is made redundant is also given notice according to their length of service set out above. They may also be entitled to severence pay if the business has 15 or more employees. An employee who works out the notice period is entitled to one day off without loss of pay each week to look for other work. If the employee uses more than one day to look for other work then the employer may ask for proof that the employee has attended an interview on that day.
If the employee does not work out the notice period, then the employee does not receive payment in lieu of notice. However, the employee is entitled to receive any other payments due under the redundancy clause in the relevant award as if they had remained in employment until the notice period expired. This would include payments such as severance pay.
What happens if the employee resigns?
An employee must give the same amount of notice as an employer except that no additional year is added for employees over 45 years of age. If the employee fails to give the required amount of notice then the employer is entitled to withhold any payments due under the NES or the relevant modern award up to the amount representing the notice that should have been given.
CHANGES TO SCHOOL BASED APPRENTICE WAGES
From 1 January 2010 the wage rates for school-based apprentices changed under the Vehicle Manufacturing, Repair, Service and Retail Award 2010 (VMRS&R).
School-based apprentices will now be paid 'part-time' wages.
First year apprentices will now be $7.05 per hour.
Now apprentices need to be paid $7.05 plus 25% (for TAFE time) equalling $8.81 per hour for 'set hours' each week.
Keep a record of the number of days at 7.6 hours so pro rata annual leave can be calculated at 2.923 hours per week (5 day week).
As part-time wages apply any variation in part-time hours must be mutually agreed 'in writing' before the extra hours are workd (Clause 12 VMRS&R). Otherwise overtime rates apply (Clause 12.5 VMRS&R).
School-based apprentices receive a 25% loading on the ordinary wage to compensate for their time spent at TAFE (Refer to Schedule F in the VMRS&R).
First year school-based apprentices should complete the equivalent time in on-the-job training as a full time first year apprentice.
For example a first year full-time motor mechanic spends approximately 11 weeks time off the job at TAFE. Time on the job will be 34 to 36 weeks of nominal hours.
This excludes:
- 4 weeks annual leave
- 2 weeks public holidays
- up to 2 weeks sick leave
The school-based apprentice should also complete 34-36 weeks on-the-job before progressing to the second year of apprenticeship.
This may mean they complete years 11 and 12 and do not progress to the second year apprenticeship until part way through the next year.
To avoid difficulty when calculating accumulated annual leave and other entitlements, keep an accurate record of the dates and times on which he attends work on your premises.
ATO NOTICE - DATA MATCHING 
Commissioner of Taxation
NOTICE OF A DATA MATCHING PROGRAM
The Australian Taxation Office (Tax Office) will request and collect details of individuals or entities that have purchased or acquired a motor vehicle valued at $10,000 or higher from the following sources:
New South Wales - Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW
Queensland - Queensland Transport
Victoria - Vic Roads
Tasmania - Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources
South Australia - Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (Transport SA)
Western Australia - Department for Planning and Infrastructure
Northern Territory - Northern Territory Department of planning and infrastructure (Transport Division), and
Australian Capital Territory - ACT Road Transport Authority, Road User Services, Urban Services
These details will be electronically matched with certain sections of Tax Office data holdings to identify non compliance with lodgment and payment obligations under taxation law. Records relating to approximately 2.5 million individuals will be matched.
This program is called the Motor Vehicle Data Matching Project and it enables the Tax Office:
To address non compliance with lodgment and debt payment through the electronic bulk matching data to identify potential Tax Office activity; and
To be more strategic in its approach to Tax Office business activities.
A document describing this current program has been prepared in consultation with the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner. A copy of this document is available from:
Motor Vehicle Data Matching Project
Australian Taxation Office
PO Box 9900
Wollongong 2500
or by phoning Kathleen Hardiman on (02) 4724 0232
The ATO also advises that:
The current data matching project obtains details of all passenger and four wheel drive vehicles where the transfer and/or market value is $10,000 or greater. Data has been acquired for all vehicles sold, transferred or newly registered between 1 July 2008 and 30 June 2009.
Data has been obtained to detect businesses and individuals participating in the cash economy or otherwise seeking an unfair advantage by deliberately avoiding their tax obligations.
Those identified with expenditure in excess of their reported income, at risk of potentially skimming some or all of their cash takings, or in other ways not reporting all their income will be contacted and encouraged to make a voluntary disclosure of any unreported amounts.
Motor vehicle sellers will also be contacted where recorded sales are higher than the reported sales to the tax office.
Where appropriate the data obtained will be used to support default assessments of tax liabilities.
The Tax Office complies with the Federal Privacy Commissioner’s Guidelines on Data Matching in Commonwealth Administration which includes standards for data matching to protect the privacy of individuals.
WORKSAFETY UPDATE 
Serious About Safe Business Workshops for 2010
$95 per person. Half-Day Workshop.
The Serious About Safe Business program is designed to help small businesses manage their health and safety risks and improve business outcomes.
The program is designed for small businesses without well-developed, existing health and safety systems.
The workshop will cover how to assess your safety risks and how to take a systems-based approach to managing the safety risks associated with your business. It will provide practical and pragmatic solutions as well as access to a range of tools to make addressing health and safety easier for small businesses.
The workshop will address:
- the importance of management commitment to safety
- the primary legislative requirement to take all reasonably practicable steps to manage health and safety risks in your business
- consultation requirements
- developing and implementing safe work procedures
- training and supervision of employees
- reporting requirements to Workcover
- workers' compensation and return to work programs.
Workshop participants will receive a free copy of the Serious About Safe Business Pack which provides businesses with a means of assessing their current level of safety compliance as well as accompanying guidance on how to lift safety performance to a higher level over 6 key result areas.
Participants will receive a Certificate of Achievement.
BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL. Book early to secure a place. You can book online at www.worksafety.act.gov.au receive a return email confirming your booking and the event details.
MTAA SUPERANNUATION 
What’s your most important asset?
Think about it for a moment. It’s not your home, or even your super savings—it’s your ability to earn money. Doesn’t it make sense to protect yourself?
The vast majority of Australians do not have enough insurance to cover themselves if something goes wrong. You may have a mortgage or rent to pay, the usual household bills, plus hospital or other expenses. If you think of all the regular bills you have to pay on a weekly or yearly basis, you can see that your everyday living expenses can really add up.
What insurance do I need?
Even if you have the basic cover that comes with your MTAA Super membership, your insurance should be updated as soon as your circumstances change—for example, if you get married, have a baby,
or buy a house.
Through its arrangements with MetLife Insurance, MTAA Super has a range of affordable insurance cover available for members. This includes death-only cover, death plus total and permanent disability cover, and income protection insurance. Income protection insurance will pay a portion of the amount you earn as income for a set period, should you become injured or ill and unable to work. Income protection insurance can tide your family over financially while you recover.
One of the main benefits of having insurance through MTAA Super is that you can pay through your membership, so no extra budgeting is required. Your premiums are deducted from your super account each month—which is another saving because the premiums are effectively paid from your pre-tax income. As an industry super fund with many members, we are able to negotiate cost-effective group insurance coverage on your behalf.
Unitised or fixed cover?
Members can add to their default cover according to their circumstances and needs. You can choose to have your death-only or death plus total and permanent disability (TPD) cover as either unitised cover or fixed cover, although there are conditions that you might have to satisfy. You should note that you can’t have a combination of unitised and fixed cover.
Unitised cover means that your benefit is based on a scale that determines the amount of money you will receive if you become eligible to claim a benefit for death or total and permanent disability. The level of unitised cover varies according to your age, but the cost of unitised cover per unit is the same regardless of your age.
Fixed cover allows you to choose the level of cover you want in multiples of $1,000. Your chosen level of cover does not vary with your age and remains the same each year until you reach age 70 for both death-only or death plus total and permanent disability (TPD) cover. Your premium will, however, vary each year according to your age.
Unitised cover and fixed cover are available under the Fund’s two occupational categories—general and non-manual.
Manual or office worker?
We have arranged different coverage levels for those of you in non-manual labour, because you don’t want to be paying extra premiums for manual labour if the majority of your working hours are spent in
an office. So the scales of benefits are determined by whether you are in general employment (in a trade environment) or non-manual employment (80 per cent or more of your working time is spent in an office environment).
Unless you have applied and are accepted for non-manual status, the general scale will apply to your insurance cover. There are benefits in choosing the non-manual scale if you do spend 80 per cent or more of your working time in an office. If you want to change your cover from general to non-manual, it’s easy to apply by completing the ‘Application to transfer to non-manual insurance cover’ form in the
MTAA Super Insurance Handbook.
For further information about your default cover or increasing your insurance, please contact us on 1300 362 415 to obtain a copy of the MTAA Super Insurance Handbook or visit the website, www.mtaasuper.com.au
The information in this article is provided by Motor Trades Association of Australia Superannuation Fund Pty Ltd (ABN 14 008 650 628 AFSL 238718), Trustee of the MTAA Superannuation Fund (MTAA Super) (ABN 74 559 365 913). Any advice contained in this article is of a general nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. The MTAA Super Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), an important document containing all the information you need to make a decision about MTAA Super, can be obtained by calling MTAA Super on 1300 362 415 or from www.mtaasuper.com.au. You should consider the PDS in making any decision about MTAA Super.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW YOUR SUPER WORKS? 
MTAA Super holds presentations across Australia that are open to anyone, free of charge - you don't even have to be a member to attend, so bring your partner or a friend. We offer the kind of general information that everyone needs to know.
You should come away from the seminar with a better understanding of salary sacrificing, voluntary contributions and how taxation affects super.
MTAA Super workplace presentations
For employers, it's easy to arrange a presentation in your own workplace, and each presentation is tailored specifically to your staff. Just tell you Business Development Manager (BDM) the subjects you would like to see covered, and they will put together a special presentation for you. It might include for example, insurance, making extra contributions and consolidating super - there are a range of topics that can be discussed, so talk to your Business Development Manager about what your employees are interested in. Call us on 1300 362 415 to be put in touch with your local BDM.
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