Deductions
General information
The Department provides a facility to deduct a set dollar amount from an employee's fortnightly salary and forward that amount to an approved organisation.
Deductions from an employee's salary must initially be authorised by the employee in writing which would usually be done by completing a deduction authority form supplied by the organisation/company. Once authorised, variations to existing deductions would not normally require the written consent of the employee, as this would have been given at the time the deductions commenced. An employee may, at any time, request in writing that a deduction be ceased.
With the exception of the deductions mentioned below, schools are responsible for processing deduction changes on the Department’s payroll system for school-based staff. Corporate HR Services is responsible for processing deductions for non-school based staff.
Child Support Agency, court-ordered deductions, annual hospital/medical fund increases and teacher notebook salary deductions are administered centrally for employees paid on the Department’s payroll system.
Where an employee has entered into salary sacrifice arrangements, all related deductions are administered by the salary packaging administrator (SmartSalary).
Payments to Credit Union Bank accounts should no longer be treated as deductions. These should be entered as multiple pay distributions against an employee’s net salary (refer to Direct Credit topic on HRWeb for more information).
School councils must comply with Child Support Agency and court-ordered salary deductions for staff employed on the local payroll.
Where an employee has more than one deduction and has insufficient net pay to make all the deductions, a priority order will be invoked and the employee will be responsible for making up any shortfall to the organisation/company concerned where a deduction cannot be made.
It should be noted that a period of leave without pay, including family leave, does not automatically cancel a deduction. Employees wishing to cancel a deduction must do so in writing.
Charitable donations under the Workplace Giving Program
The Workplace Giving Program enables regular donations to be made through automatic deductions from an employee’s pre-tax salary. Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), an international not-for-profit organisation, administers the Workplace Giving Program for the Department. For details about the charities that are supported by CAF, refer to the charities directory on their website (see link below).
An employee wishing to make a donation under this arrangement should complete the form below. To change or cease a donation, a new form will need to be completed and submitted. The effective start date used on the payroll will be the first day of the next available pay fortnight.
A Workplace Giving Program deduction is entered on the payroll, and displayed on the employee’s pay slip, as Charity. Once processed on the payroll, the form must be faxed to CAF and then filed on the employee’s personnel file.
The total amount of the annual donation will be shown on the employee’s PAYG Summary as Workplace Giving.
Where an employee wishes to make a donation to State Schools Relief, for more information refer to State Schools Relief
Other Resources
Procedures & Forms
- Work Place Giving Donation Authority (Word - 269Kb)
- For information on processing deductions on the payroll, refer to the Deductions eduPay User Guide available at: EduPay User Guides
Additional information
- CAF List of Charities Index (http://www.cafaustralia.org.au/charities/index.php)
Related Topics