Matt

Tick those three boxes, and you’re on your way from a super perspective.

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Ange

Welcome to Super Simple Chats. Rest's very own podcast. We will be speaking to industry experts about all things super. Trying to make it understandable and relatable for everyday Aussies. After all, it's one of the biggest assets you'll ever have.

Ange (V/O)

We're recording this podcast on Gadigal land. We pay our respects to elders past and present.

Any advice you hear on this podcast is general in nature and doesn't take into account your financial situation, needs or objectives. Issued by Retail Employees Superannuation PTY LTD. Before deciding to join or stay, consider the relevant PDS and TMD at rest.com.au/pds.

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Andy

I don't know about you guys, but starting any new job is both the most exciting and terrifying time for me, from remembering everyone's names to getting across the ins and outs of my role. It's scary, and that's from my perspective as an employee. I can't begin to imagine what it's like for an employer. I'm Andy from rest.

Chrissy

I'm Chrissy

Matt

and I'm Matt.

Andy

So today, we're going to be sharing some tips and tricks. We just want to make things as easy as possible for our employers to get their team started off on the right foot. But first, Matt, can I just say season three and you're joining us again?

Matt

Yep, it's pleasure to be back. I mean, I can't believe it, so I must have done something right in the first two seasons. So it's good to be here.

Andy

I feel like you're the number one star of the podcast outside of you know, the hosts like…

Chrissy

He's not a host?

Andy

Yeah, big surprise.

Matt

I'll take it. Maybe I can host one of those, see how we go season 3. I could be in your seat, next season. So, see how we go.

Chrissy

He’s after our jobs.

Andy

Let's kick this chat off in a general sense. I've worked at a few workplaces and Chrissy and Matt, I just want to get a feel from you about your past workplace experiences when you were starting out. Can you guys tell me, who did it best and what they did that made you feel special?

Matt

Yeah, look, I think, I mean, look, I've actually been at Rest for 10 years now, so I'm just trying to think back to when I first started at Rest. But I think one of the things that really stood out and it stood out in some other workplaces as well. I think when I was younger, I worked in retail, fast food, worked in a retirement home, so whole variety. And one of the things that really stuck out across all four, including Rest, was being allocated a buddy, whether that's like an informal buddy where you sort of have monthly catch ups, or it's an informal buddy where they just sort of take you under their wing. So I think the difference between, sort of a buddy and, you know, having a boss or a manager or, you know, that small business owner that's trying to show you the ropes is, it's a peer, and that really just sort of helps you get settled in. And in most cases, that buddy ended up being my buddy outside of work as well. So, you know, it's one of those things that just makes you feel more comfortable at work. And as I said, that sort of level playing field, I think that was one of the best things that I probably had at various workplaces across various industries. So that would be something I would suggest to employers, to take note of.

Chrissy

Yep. No one wants to eat lunch by themselves on the first day.

Matt

No, definitely not.

Chrissy

I've also been at Rest for like seven years now. You know when I think about starting a new role, and I think about all the paperwork and the forms that you have to fill out, I think something that would make me feel really special is just doing that alongside my favourite pack of biscuits.

Andy

Yeah. So simple, easy, yeah, right, like you just pop your biscuits down and

Chrissy

Cup of tea. Yeah, dunk and go.

Andy

The most British response we could have.

Chrissy

We're really easily pleased.

Andy

I also kind of feel like, you know, seven years, right, since you started at Rest, it is really easy to forget what that's like. I remember, for me, when I started my very first job, there was, like, that excitement and fear that I talked about at the top of the show, right? This feeling of, I'm gonna do well, but am I gonna like, you know, I'm gonna get a mess this up. Am I gonna do something wrong here? And that first feeling of like, Yes, I have a job. I can save up for my first car. And then all this paperwork came through, like you said, and I remember being, what does any of this mean? Like, at 16, you're looking at ATO forms and these big, complicated documents, and you're not 100% sure what they are. So if you're an employer, what are the things you can do to keep things simple for both yourself and your employee when you kick off?

Matt

Look, it can be quite intimidating. I think back to any job that I've probably had. You know, whether it's my most recent job, but all being 10 years but particularly when you're younger, that first job is pretty full on. So there's so much going on in your brain, right? So, you know, when you're a new starter, like it seems really basic, but, you know, make sure your employees understand, from a super perspective, what it is they're getting. And I think from, you know, if I think about yourself, Chrissy, you know, not being born in Australia, I'm sure you were probably thinking, you know, what is this? Is that something that you know, fell into your life when you started working.

Chrissy

I remember, so I don't remember my first job, but I remember my first job in Australia, and I remember looking at my pay check when it finally came in, and getting and seeing this line on it called super. And I remember going to them and being like, what is this? And all that was kind of told to me was, it's your super, you'll get it when you retire. And that was the amount of information that I kind of got.

Matt

Yeah, and it's, I mean, it's the same for me. I think, if I think back to my first ever jobs and getting paid super, particularly as a youngster as well, you know, you sort of do see super on your on your pay slip, you don't really understand. So having that sort of information upfront would be so beneficial. And I think from both an employer's perspective and an employee's perspective is beneficial because, you know, you don't have your employee sort of, you know, feeling like they're being underpaid or not being, you know, from an employer's perspective as well, it's like you've given that, then that opportunity to understand what it is as well. So super can seem complicated. So anything you can do to sort of help your employees, and then obviously help yourself too, it's a win, win.

Chrissy

Yeah, even just pointing them to the fund website, something as simple as that, so they know who they’re with.

Matt

Correct, 100%

Matt

If it's not the fund website, you know, there's, there's plenty of other links, yeah, you know, ATO and employees might go, there's plenty of information out.

Andy

Yeah, such a simple thing, right? Just explaining what it is, it's so easy to overlook those things sometimes. So first step, explain what super is. And then, once you've done that, what comes next?

Matt

Yeah, so the next thing is, is you need to share the super form with them, which is called the Standard Choice Form. And look, if you can do that via email, you know, before they start, even, it gives you a bit of a head start. You know, that employee doesn't necessarily have to fill it out before they start, but sort of sharing all that as part of their sort of welcome pack as an example. And I think the other thing is, you know, just making sure, asking your employee, or any new employee, just to bring along their personal details with them. And I think that a lot of people think, Oh, they would just naturally do that when you got to remember, once again, it's employees first day, they probably put so many things rattling around the head, basic things like the obviously their tax file number and maybe their bank account details, and just knowing their address and maybe some identification as well, it will go a long way. So just sort of prefacing that before they start, you know, just giving them the heads up, I think would make a big difference as well.

Andy

Is there anything that you should be really aware of and really conscious of avoiding in these situations? Is there's a reason why, like, it's just not done with every employer anyway?

Matt

I think, to be honest, I mean, probably is giving any financial advice. Yeah, and it could be outside of super. It could be other products that you have available to your staff as well. But you know, you know, unless you're a financial advisor, which in probably most cases, you probably aren't, you shouldn't be giving any advice. It's very much just factual information. So if they do want further information? Once again, there's resources available. Obviously, we've got plenty at Rest on our website, or, you know, once again, the employees, myGov, ATO, all those sort of spots as well. There's plenty of information where they can get that sort of factual information. Further to that as well, there are financial advisors. Obviously, they can give financial advice as well. That's probably, at Rest as well. We've got a full team of financial advisors available to help our rest members as well. But certainly that's probably the thing I'd be, just to be careful of that you're not sort of pushing people into certain superannuation products.

Andy

Yeah. So, share some factual details, link to the resources that are available online, so that you…

Matt

Spot on, spot on,.

Andy

So I'd imagine this process is sort of similar as well. If, let's say I'm employing like 40 people at once, or something, I'm opening up a new franchise. I don't know if those franchises exist anymore. This is a big, this is one of the big ones. So can you automate it? Can you make it fast and easy for yourself to do this stuff? Is there a nice way and then, without losing that personal touch, I guess?

Matt

Yeah, I mean, look, it really is up to you whatever works best for your business. I mean, it depends if you're a small business, large, you know, whatever. But at the same time, what we've seen be, you know, very successful and work for businesses is they just create a checklist, like an email template, and the more you sort of get familiar with what's on that template that you've created, sharing it with your new starters, receiving that information back and going through that process. The more you do it, the more you're going to get familiar with it. And I think that's just going to help you sort of check off all those boxes that you need to do from an onboarding perspective. So that's probably a really simple way, of just sort of getting ahead of that too.

Andy

Cool. Yeah, awesome.

Chrissy

Make a list.

Matt

Yep. Checking it twice.

Chrissy

Ha, for Christmas hiring season.

So I'm a big believer that first impressions count. And whilst you might not necessarily notice if the onboarding process runs smoothly, you will know you, will feel if it's a bumpy one. So is there anything you can tell me about how to make the first impression count?

Matt

Yeah. Look, I think last time I was on the podcast, season two, I talked about three things that, from a business perspective you need to think about when it comes from a super perspective. First thing is, provide that employee, your employees with a standard choice form. That's number one. Number two is check if you need to do a stapled search, which is finding any superannuation out there in the super universe for any of your new employees that come on board, and thirdly, figure out how you're going to pay contributions. So whether that's through a clearing house, or whether it's through potentially, a payroll software provider, like a Xero as an example. So those three things will just set you up for success, and the more regularly you tick them off in a regimented process, the better is going to be for you. The better it's going to be for your employees. So it's like anything, the more you do, the more more regularly, isn't it a bit of a theme here.

Chrissy

But yeah we’re season three.

Matt

But yes, me once again, going through this again. But once that's… they’re the three things it's so important, tick those three boxes, and you're on your way from a super perspective, both obviously, as an employer, but then your employees too.

Andy

So let's talk about that standard choice form then, like, I know my attention spans kind of shrunk to about the length of a Tiktok…

Matt

Yep, me too.

Andy

… and I know the form is about three pages long, right? Yeah, so what are the things that an employer can actually do to help break that down for their employee?

Matt

Yeah, look, I think this is a big one, particularly for younger employees. I mean, any employee filling out a super form is probably looking at the wording and all those pages going, what do I need to do? So maybe you can just give them a helping hand. You know, there's a couple of sections there, where, as an example, if your employees bring their own super fund across to you, you can point them to that section and ask them where you know to what bits they need to fill out. And the same goes if they want to select your employer's default, your business's default super fund, then you can point them to those sections as well. So instead of them sort of sitting there and potentially fretting and not getting that form back to you, which is, you know, super important information, excuse the pun there, terrible for me. You know, you can really just support them with, you know, what could be just another layer of complexity with some additional forms and paperwork. And depending on what industry you're in there, you may be, you know, incurring a lot of paperwork, onboarding process. So I think that could help them there too.

Chrissy

Nice. We'll pop a link in the show notes to help.

Matt

Yeah, sounds good.

Chrissy

So I remember my first job, and my first day starting my first job was 15 years old. My mom dropped me off going to Tesco to start packing shelves, and it was intimidating. It was intimidating going into the workforce. Is there anything you think employers can do to help ease that?

Matt

Yeah, I think, I think we've touched on that a few times. It's, it's a big day for anybody, particularly if it's your first job, I think..

Chrissy

It’s a rite of passage right?

Matt

It's a right of passage, right. You need to be chucked in the deep end. And I think I was 15, 15, years old, my mom dropped me off at Hungry Jacks. I was, I was on my way and

Andy

Good luck, watch out for the fryers.

Matt

I had to use the phone at the Hungry Jacks to call her to come pick me up because I didn't have a phone.

Chrissy

Yeh same, I’ll meet you here at 7, okay?

Matt

And somehow it worked. You know, that's just the way it was. But I think, you know, so it's real, but I think just provide reassurance to your team members, that’s probably the first thing, they're all very nervous, apprehensive. And the second one, just offer support where you can as well. You know, one thing I've seen, you know, at certain workplaces, it's just like a nice little onboarding pack or a little tote bag, with a few bits and pieces in there, maybe it's got, you know, if you are working in fast food or retail, you know, it's got some other uniform in there, or some just other, nice water bottle, a notepad, you know..

Chrissy

Some little merch, some branded merch, with some Tim Tams.

Andy

Yeah, get those Tim Tams in there.

Matt

Maybe we need a sponsor of Tim Tams, just a heads up, is it Arnotts? Might be Arnotts.

So I think, yeah, it's, you know, basic stuff like that. Can just make a big diff… and it keeps, you know, it makes, it's you makes you're off to a good start, you know, with your employees, by doing stuff like that too.

Chrissy

But you can also slot in information about their super fund within that.

Matt

Of course, yeah. I mean, look, we can probably provide a link or something, or some information as part of the show notes here, but we've got some very simple, sort of one, two page flyers, which just talk about the real basics, which I'm sure you know, just sliding it in that bag with all the other stuff.

Chrissy

This is what it is. This is who you're with, this is how you find out more information.

Matt

Exactly right, yeah.

Chrissy

Stops those questions then coming back to the employer.

Matt

Definitely, 100%

Andy

This might not be the platform for venting, but I do need to vent real quick. I once worked with an employer who got my tax file number right, but they didn't quite line up any of my other personal details, like they put in my nickname, the address they put in was their business address and not my business address. Fast forward to a few months later, and I realized that there's a new super account that's receiving my super also being deposited into another one that's not quite the right one. So Matt, I know why, but can you tell me why it's so important for a business to get their employees details right, and will it impact them down the line if they get them wrong?

Matt

Yeah, it's pretty annoying, right? I totally get it, and I've seen it look. I've been working in Super for a while. And basically, you know when your employee onboards, and you know, we receive a standard choice form or the contribution details through a file, whatever's on those, you know, on those on the contribution file, we're going to set up your employee as a Rest member or whatever super fund they are with those details. So we've seen a lot where employees will, for whatever reason, put their employer's work address as their personal address.

Chrissy

That's actually not, I can imagine doing that as well.

Matt

So look, I mean, it could just be that, you know, little stressed on day one, you’re in the environment. So, but what does that mean from a super perspective, it means any comms moving forward, any letters statements to that work address, and it's probably unlikely that you're living there at your work as well. So some real basic things you can do as an employer is just spend a bit of time when you're receiving details from your employee personal details, just to make sure that they're putting in the correct details, because down the line as well. From a employee's perspective, if they're looking to potentially consolidate their super or update their details, it may be a little bit difficult if we don't have the correct details on file. So having it from day one, it just makes a big difference, and spending the time as an employee just to make sure, will help you out as well, from an employer's perspective, too.

Andy

I mean, just to add a story to that, essentially, where mine ended up was that I needed to go take my identification to a police officer and get it verified that I was actually me before they could consolidate my super into the correct account.

Matt

Yeah, it makes sense. Look at the date of birth is a huge one that we've seen in the past as well, just getting the month and days round the wrong way as an example. And same thing, you go to do anything, you know, update your account date. You can't verify yourself. So just that verification. And you know, your identity is a very important thing, particularly in this day and age. So just getting that right, I can't stress, it's probably one of the biggest things, and I've just seen it so many times. And it's just from a little check that’s, it’s so easy to check from the employer's perspective. So, that would be my advice to is any business, any employer out there, is to just spend a bit of time just to make sure that you're getting these details. I appreciate if you're a large business, probably, but maybe having some checks in place will support you with that.

Andy

I mean, payroll is like the competency, yeah, that's how I think about it with my workplace, it's they're not getting my payroll. I'm scared. I'm nervous about some stuff, you know?

Matt

Correct.

Chrissy

So we spent a bit of time talking about the employee and how we can make them employers can help make them feel at ease. But I want to flip it and think about the employer. So you're you're running a business, you've got a million things to do. You're onboarding a new team member. Is there anything Rest is doing to help with that?

Matt

Yeah, there’s a big thing coming into the super world for employers called, and employees, called Payday Super. And Rest, as part of that, has launched a new clearing house called Rest Pay which is, super simple, compliant with Payday Super, really easy for you to use as an employer. So, really excited that that’s out and available for our employers to use now.

And look if you ever get stuck for, from a Rest Pay or contributions processing perspective, we do have a new employer contact centre available Monday to Friday, and that can be contacted on 1300 305 775, Monday to Friday, there to support you with any of those contributions processing for your team as well. I think further to that as well, can I give my team a little plug?

Andy

Oh yeah, go for it.

Matt

I did on season 2, and it managed to get through as well. So my team as well look, we look after employers that are basically looking to join Rest, and need a little bit more information before they make that decision. But part of that is discussing Rest Pay and potentially, you know, onboarding. So you know, you'd be more than welcome to reach out directly to directly to my team as well, which is... can I…. The little plug is, our email address is supersolutions@rest.com.au.

You'll actually be hearing from myself or my colleagues as well, directly and my team. So sorry team, if I didn't give you the heads up on that, but we might be getting a few calls. We'd love to speak with you.

Andy

Yeah, you get the world-famous Matt Balderson podcast Season one, two and three.

Matt

Just quote podcast, season one, two, and three, you’ll get my attention straight away.

Andy

You get a special deal. No, you won't… we’ll think about it.

---- note: no vox pops in this episode

Chrissy

So we spent a bit of time talking about some of the things that employees get wrong contact details. But what about some of the things that business owners need to watch out for? I know that in retail, for example, a lot of people work overtime. Do you have to pay super on overtime?

Matt

Yeah, look, in most cases, no, you don't actually, as an employee have to pay on overtime, but supers paid on what's called ordinary time earnings, or OTE, as it's known in the biz, commission and bonuses do count as OTE, you know, so you'll have to factor that into into super saying that all this stuff is quite nuanced, and I think we could be here for some time going through the it checklist. But, you know, I'm sure we could just pop it in the show notes.

Andy

Yeah, we'll definitely put a link to that in the show notes, because there's a few different caveats in there as well.

Matt

There is plenty, and I'll probably get myself in trouble.

Andy

Yeah, yeah, we don’t want to get you in trouble, we want you back for season 4.

Chrissy

Is there a calculator that helps employers?

Matt

Yeah, there is. And it can, it can just be located on our Rest website.

Chrissy

Yeah, perfect.

Matt

You know, there's, there's plenty of support online.

Chrissy

So we won't do the math. They can do it.

Matt

Yeah, correct.

Chrissy

Is there anything else that you think employers need to know?

Matt

Yeah, look, I think, keep in mind there's plenty of support available to you at Rest. I've now given up my team's email address live on the podcast. But look, on our Rest website, there's a business help center, there's plenty of support available. So just keep that in mind before you make any decisions. We're here to support you.

Andy

The big message is that Rest is here for their employers.

Matt

100%

Chrissy

Awesome. So to recap, if you're an employer and you want to think about how you can make onboarding easy for you and your team. You want to create a simple onboarding process.

Matt

Yeah, that's right with the with the templates and checklists that we talked about.

Chrissy

Secondly, get a payment platform.

Matt

Yeah, Rest employers will have access to a new clearinghouse called Rest Pay. So that's something you may want to consider as well.

Chrissy

And then finally, know the difference between OTE and overtime.

Matt

Exactly, you got it.

Chrissy

I'm ready,

Andy

Absolutely ready, to start our own business, take over the world, start paying super. Oh, it's so exciting. Okay.

Matt, thank you so much for joining Chrissy and I on today's podcast. I feel like every time you're on here, I learn something new. And I think it's always so good to have someone from an employer team, point of view, come on the pod and talk to employers about what we can offer them. I do feel like, when you are an employer, sometimes it feels like you're on your own, yeah, but it's really solid to know that I think Rest is like coming from the internal side of things, from what I can see, really feels like Rest is there for their employers.

Matt

Yeah, we love supporting our employers, and yet, thanks once again, for having us on season three. It's always a blast doing this. So, cheers.

Chrissy

And as always, if you like today's episode, leave us a comment or like and subscribe,

Andy

And that's…

Andy, Chrissy and Matt

Super simple.