unpaid personal leave, superannuation and jobkeeper

I'm hoping someone might be able to provide some guidance.

We have an employee who went on annual leave for a week, last day of holiday emailed a medical certificate for 4 weeks.
he had enough annual and personal leave to cover this period.

On the last day of the medical certificate, we received another medical certificate for 8 weeks.
effectively we are paying the Jobkeeper payment to him.

Recently we received an email regarding the amount of super we will paying for September and payment date to be provided.

I have read that Jobkeeper payment isn't subjected to mandatory employer superannuation, but am I missing something here regarding the unpaid personal leave?

Currently not accruing entitlements due to unpaid leave, again do I need to adjust this?

Any guidance on these issues would be appreciated

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Originally Posted by tempsol

I'm hoping someone might be able to provide some guidance.

We have an employee who went on annual leave for a week, last day of holiday emailed a medical certificate for 4 weeks.
he had enough annual and personal leave to cover this period.

On the last day of the medical certificate, we received another medical certificate for 8 weeks.
effectively we are paying the Jobkeeper payment to him.

Recently we received an email regarding the amount of super we will paying for September and payment date to be provided.

I have read that Jobkeeper payment isn't subjected to mandatory employer superannuation, but am I missing something here regarding the unpaid personal leave?

Currently not accruing entitlements due to unpaid leave, again do I need to adjust this?

Any guidance on these issues would be appreciated

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Firstly, yes, if employee has used up leave, then it is leave without pay and no super entitlement because employee is not being paid as he has exhausted leave entitlements; further, he will not begin to accrue leave again until such time as he returns to work!

Are you saying this employee emailed you re amount of Super?? If so, the employee should be told that super is not payable on unpaid leave. Put that in writing and keep copies of all emails/correspondence in employee's file.

As to Jobkeeper, I can't help you with that one. But you can easily confirm that online with either Fair Work or the relevant Government Dept. You should do that anyway so you can quote the applicable ruling.

Re leave, essentially if someone is on A/L and become ill, produce a bone fide Medical Certificate as confirmation, then employer would alter the A/L to PC/L or reverse the number of A/L days that the employee was ill.

If this alleged sick leave continues, you have the right to know what the illness is and if it continues with no explanation, order the employee to see a doctor of your (employer's) choosing which of course you pay for.

I'm smelling a bit of a rat here.... could it be the alleged sick leave is so he does not have to work, no problem because he's getting a Jobkeeper income... you may well find that once that ends, he will return to work suddenly fit again... of course that is just my take...
Tiger

Thanks tiger, i appreciate the guidance.

I think the employee is claiming stress/anxiety leave due to the uncertain times, our accountant is saying still pay the superannuation on the jobkeeper amount.
Technically still unpaid leave based on his award, no super or entitlements applicable but jobkeeper comes with its own rules apparently.

i am going to make further enquiries, twice I have rang fairwork but been on hold for awhile, and once was cut off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tempsol

Thanks tiger, i appreciate the guidance.

I think the employee is claiming stress/anxiety leave due to the uncertain times, our accountant is saying still pay the superannuation on the jobkeeper amount.
Technically still unpaid leave based on his award, no super or entitlements applicable but jobkeeper comes with its own rules apparently.

i am going to make further enquiries, twice I have rang fairwork but been on hold for awhile, and once was cut off.

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Yes, I just googled super and JobKeeper, there are different rules, quite a bit of info there so you can do your own research. It is up to the employer to pay super on any additional wage paid because of the Jobkeeper payment (ie not obligatory). Also, if an employee stood down without pay, no super is payable on the JobKeeper Payment.

Further I doubt the best source is Fair Work for this, rather you should be referring your questions to the ATO - they have jurisdiction over Super anyhow and you'll see on the internet there is a Fact Sheet on the Australian Government Treasury website re JobKeeper. Hope this helps
Tiger