Work choices to bring SMEs into line

SMALL to medium enterprises will be subject to a campaign by the federal government’s workplace investigator to ensure they are complying with record-keeping requirements under the new Work Choices reforms. The Office of Workplace Services (OWS) is set to conduct industry compliance programs later this month, investigating sectors such as contract cleaning, meat, security, retail and employers of youth workers. The new requirements stipulate that strict time records are to be kept for employees earning less than a base salary of $55,000, to ensure that employees do not work more than 38 hours in an average working week, with any overtime performed to be "reasonable". The new obligations come into effect on September 27, six months after the implementation of other Work Choices reforms.