Helping Australian Apprentices Enter the World of Work

As the current labour and skills shortage continues to impact businesses Australia-wide, we are doing everything we can for employers who recruit and manage apprentices and trainees.

According to research from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), only 55.7% of apprentices and trainees completed their apprenticeships. This is contributing to a nation-wide shortage of skilled workers, which is causing unions and business groups call for wage subsidies for apprentices and employer payments on completion of apprenticeships.

At foundU, we can't offer wage subsidies or payments. But for businesses that regularly recruit and manage apprentices and trainees, the foundU platform offers a range of benefits.

Quickly generate wage and payroll tax reports

Are the wages you pay to apprentices and trainees exempt from payroll tax? Payroll tax exemptions or rebates of up to 50% may be available to you.

This rebate is a payroll tax offset based on wages paid to apprentices and trainees. foundU can help streamline lodging this rebate by allowing you to easily generate a wage or payroll tax report specifically for your apprentices. If you have an exemption, you can also customise your payroll tax calculations to ensure they are correct for your apprentices.

Submit reimbursements on the go

Managing apprentices and trainees across multiple venues, work sites and locations can make keeping track of employee expenses and reimbursements challenging.

This process is seamless with foundU. The mobile app allows apprentices to upload and attach receipts for reimbursement when submitting their timesheets. Once submitted, these reimbursements appear in the platform for managers to approve or decline. Once approved, the reimbursement will then display on the employee's draft payslip ready for payroll processing.

Set and forget pay increases

Despite their inexperience, apprentices and trainees are still considered employees - they have a formal training contract with their employer.

If your apprentices have worked for a set amount of time or achieved a set amount of the apprenticeship's skills and training requirements, they may be eligible for a pay increase. foundU allows you to pre-set these increases and set an effective date for each position, so payroll is automatically updated from that date.

Award interpretation made easy

The most important thing to remember when managing apprentices and trainees is that they typically receive special pay rates while completing their training. Depending on how much training the apprentice has completed, their age, the length of the apprenticeship, and whether they are an adult or a student, these pay rates may vary.

Managing these complex pay rates can be made easier with award interpretation software. foundU is intuitive, fully customisable and can handle any pay calculation to ensure your apprentices and trainees get paid correctly.

Emma Wu, Financial Manager at NightOwl, praises the foundU platform and its ability to interpret modern awards.

"The foundU platform has really given us confidence that our payroll is accurate, and as a business it has enabled us to be much more effective than we have ever been," Emma said.

"Once the awards and agreements were set-up in the foundU system, payroll became automatic and error-free. Data from rosters and staff timesheets flow seamlessly onto payroll, which is great. If we were ever to be audited, we're very confident that we could easily get all the information we need and it would be accurate."

Want to know more about foundU? Book a Demo.