What you'll learn
- Country Introduction
- Tax Breakdown for Employers
- Statutory Leave Laws
- Minimum Wage and Working Hours
- Termination Process
- Additional Information
Australia is the largest country in the Oceania region and the sixth-largest country in the world. Its size gives it a wide variety of climates and landscapes, with lots of desert, tropical rainforests, and mountain ranges.
Australia is a highly developed country and ranks amongst the highest in the world for quality of life, health, education, democracy, economic freedom, civil liberties, political rights, and safety. Employees in Australia have what’s called a superannuation fund, which is an an employment-funded pension that they can access after retiring from work.
Paid Leave and Statutory Leave
Parental Leave
Paid maternity leave in Australia is managed by the government. Employees who become the primary carer of a newborn or adopted child can take up to 18 weeks paid leave at the national minimum wage. Employees can also apply to the Federal Government scheme for additional leave. Partners of employees who give birth are eligible for 2 weeks of paid leave at the national minimum wage, paid for by the Australian government.
Employees in Australia may also take up to two years of unpaid parental leave, broken into two 12-month periods (this leave may be used by either parent). They also have a legislated right to return to the job they had. To be eligible, the employee must have worked for the company for at least 12 months prior to the birth or adoption.
Sick Leave
Employees in Australia can take 10 days of paid sick leave per year — this leave can be taken if the employee is sick or if they need to take care of a sick family member.
Paid Leave
Full-time employees in Australia are entitled to 4 weeks of paid time off each year, and shift workers receive an additional week for a total of 5 weeks off per year. Workers can also become eligible for other types of leave, including bereavement, jury duty, long service leave, and more.
Wage Requirements and Working Hours
The minimum wage in Australia is $21.38 AUD per hour and $812.44 per week. The standard working hours are 38 hours per week but and any work past 38 hours in a week is considered overtime.
Termination Process
Process
An employer in Australia can only terminate an employee after providing written notice. After that the employer can choose to have the employee work through the notice period, or provide a payment for that time in lieu of notice.
Termination notice requirements in Australia vary depending on the number of employees the company has, the classification of the employee, and the length of time the employee has worked for the company.
Notice Period
The notice period for terminating an employee in Australia depends on how long the employee has worked at the company. Employees above the age of 45 who have been employed at the company for at least 2 years are also entitled to an additional week’s notice.
- Less than 1 year = 1 week notice
- 1-3 years = 2 weeks notice
- 3-5 years = 3 weeks notice
- 5+ years = 4 weeks notice
Severance Pay
Severance pay in Australia is paid out depending on the number of years the employee has worked at the company. Employees who have worked at a company for less than one year are not entitled to severance pay.
- 1-2 years = 4 weeks of severance pay
- 2-3 years = 6 weeks of severance pay
- 3-4 years = 7 weeks of severance pay
- 4-5 years = 8 weeks of severance pay
- 5-6 years = 10 weeks of severance pay
- 6-7 years = 11 weeks of severance pay
- 7-8 years = 13 weeks of severance pay
- 8-9 years = 14 weeks of severance pay
- 9-10 years = 16 weeks of severance pay
- 10+ years = 12 weeks of severance pay
Additional Information
In Australia, few employers offer supplemental health insurance to employees due to the country having a robust public health system. Employees in Australia also have a superannuation fund, which is an employment-funded pension plan that they can access after retiring. Employers are mandated to contribute to this fund for their employees at a rate of 10% of the salary. Additional employee contributions are allowed, but not required.
As of 2023, employers in Australia are required to consider every employee’s request for flexible work, and they can only refuse it if there is a valid reason and they discuss it with the employee.
★ 4.85% - State Payroll Tax
★ 1% - Medicare
★ 10% - Superannuation fund
Simplified Global HR and Payroll.
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with only 3 steps.
Remote candidate
You've sourced a full-time employee or contractor located in a country where your company is not incorporated.
Cost Calculation
Pass us the details of your candidate and we will let you know exactly what it costs to employ your candidate in that country.
Onboarding & Admin
Sit back and relax as we onboard your new team member and take care of all the local compliances and admin work.
It can be prohibitively expensive to establish an entity in every country you want to hire talent in, so Remofirst will hire and pay your employee on your behalf while you manage their daily duties. Remofirst will handle formal HR procedures and employment contracts that adhere to local laws, so that you can simply approve invoices via our platform. When you work with an Employer of Record (EOR) you can compliantly hire the best employees around the world.
Unlike full-time employees, contractors work on projects with multiple companies at a given time and are technically self-employed. Full-time employees are solely focused on their employer and usually receive benefits (such as health insurance, equity or stock options, and time off) as an additional form of compensation. While it can be cheaper to work with international contractors instead of paying benefits to a full-time employee, you run the risk of misclassification. It's recommended to work with an EOR for contractor onboarding and payments, so you can know that your international contractors are paid compliantly and on time.
