With only a few months till the end of the financial year, it is the perfect time to mention the importance of record-keeping and compliance.
The Local Jobs First Commissioner has a role in the monitoring and compliance of large and small government procurement projects.
The Commissioner’s compliance and enforcement powers apply to standard and strategic Local Jobs First projects tendered from 15 August 2018.
Whilst the Commissioner has four main functions, advocacy, engagement monitoring, and compliance, through our discussions with local industry we have found there is an opportunity to improve business record keeping processes in the event of an audit.
The Commissioner has powers to audit parties engaged in the delivery of Local Jobs First projects and is also able to issue a Request for Information notice to any parties involved in the projects seeking information relevant to their commitments under the contract.
All agencies, head contractors, and sub-contractors are responsible for keeping their records and documents up-to-date and must be able to provide invoices, payslips, and the number of hours worked by apprentices and cadets when asked to verify local content or their MPSG commitments .
The absence of an efficient and organised record-keeping system does not only take up a lot of time but also decreases the efficiency of businesses.
By having relevant data and record-keeping easily accessible you are not only making more informed and efficient decisions but also ensuring all documentation and data are readily available when required.
The ability to retrieve such information can save hours of extra work and improve the efficiency of staff across the workplace.
To ensure compliance with Local Jobs First requirements, businesses are strongly encouraged to maintain appropriate data management and record-keeping processes in place to streamline the process for regulators in the event of an audit or Request for Information notice being issued.
The Office and Commissioner continue to support SMEs and encourage you to ensure you are familiar with our Compliance Framework to better understand compliance and monitoring requirements.
Further information regarding compliance and monitoring can be found here.
