The referral by the States of their industrial relations powers to the Commonwealth, earlier this year, means for pharmacy that the employer/employee relationship in most if not all cases is governed by the Commonwealth Fair Work Act 2009 and the Pharmacy Industrial Award 2010. While its Work Choices predecessor precluded unfair dismissal claims against the
Following on from my last article when I was referring to the current trading conditions, it is apparent that the economy and general trading conditions in pharmacy are not as buoyant as previous years. Add to this the announced cuts to income in the 5th Agreement and the future reductions in income flowing from the
When I recently raised this question with a colleague, he initially looked at me strangely and wondered whether I had “lost my marbles”. I re-assured him that I was fine and that my question was indeed a serious one. At that point we discussed my question at length and somewhat surprisingly to my colleague, he
For many retailers, 2009 was a difficult year, with deep discounting and sluggish or patchy sales. Yet pharmacists performed better than most, enjoying better growth than just about everyone else, with the exception of takeaway food shops and liquor stores. Better still, conditions look set to improve in 2010, although the recovery could hold a
Most Retail Pharmacies in Australia have the right to occupy and operate from the leased premises pursuant to a Lease document. When a purchaser enters into a contract to purchase a retail pharmacy business they are required to either accept an assignment of an existing lease or negotiate and sign a new Lease with the
How was your Christmas 2009 trade? For many clients I have spoken to it has been flat and some are down about 5% to 10% on same month last year. The main reasons of course are the recent consecutive interest rate rises and no Federal Government funding this year for the general public compared to last December. Nevertheless
Nearly all Pharmacy businesses operate under a Lease and throughout Australia those Leases are predominately if not always Retail Shop Leases which are governed by various State based legislative Retail Shop Lease Acts.
Whenever speaking to a pharmacist who is either already in, or about to join, a pharmacy partnership, I always ask whether they have thought about their business succession strategy. For the reader who is in a pharmacy partnership, a key question to consider is “what is going to happen if you die at your dispensary”.
With the top marginal rate of individual tax starting at $180,000 of income you have to ask whether structuring your pharmacy into a company or trust (depending on which State the pharmacy operates in) it still worth it?
Pharmacists looking to achieve investment goals sooner during the new financial year should take advantage of opportunities for Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF) investment outside the Pharmacy. Accelerating your wealth sooner by making the most of changes to Australia’s superannuation laws is a good first step.