Whilst the mining companies may be breathing a sigh of relief after the government’s backdown on the resources super tax, many Australian businesses still face uncertain times.

An recent article in The Australian newspaper described the potential threat of a GFC 2 resulting from the debt-ridden economies of Europe.

At HRwisdom we are very much focussed on being proactive and taking positive planning steps (and we’ll talk more soon about some excellent employee retention tools you can use).

However, for those businesses in Australia which may be suffering or trying to manage their costs very closely, we have put together an excellent free HR resource which explains:

How To Manage Redundancies Without Destroying All Employee Goodwill

In this HRwisdom resource, we have turned to industry expert Jacqui Alder to offer practical advice to businesses facing this difficult issue.

In this redundancy information we look at:

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of offering voluntary redundancies versus conducting forced redundancies/involuntary redundancies?
• What are the steps involved in the redundancy process?
• How to select people for involuntary redundancy?
• How to communicate throughout the redundancy process?
• Should you march someone out immediately when making them redundant?
• How can you implement redundancies without destroying all employee goodwill?
• A case study.

You can access the information here:  redundancy information

Kind regards,

HRwisdom

HRwisdom have now uploaded a comprehensive new report on the Fair Work System.

The report is also available to all free and paid members of the HRwisdom community.

To access the report, simply enter your first name and email address in the free subscription box on the HRwisdom home page.

Feel free to share the report with friends and colleagues.
 
Why have HRwisdom produced the report?
 
The workplace relations system that governs Australian workplaces is commonly known as the Fair Work system.
 
The Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman enforces compliance to the Fair Work System.
 
Have you seen some of the media release headlines from the Fair Work Ombudsman recently?
 
Take a look:

• Brisbane managers face court for allegedly underpaying workers $70,000.
• Sydney company faces court for allegedly underpaying young worker almost $5000.
• Perth business faces court for allegedly failing to provide employment records.
• Two Melbourne companies reimburse underpaid workers almost $400,000.
• Court hands down $50,000 penalty for underpaying Deniliquin worker.
• Whyalla company back-pays four workers $10k.
• $35,000 back-pay for three Darwin workers.
• Tasmanian resort faces court over alleged underpayments and sham contracting.
• Random audits at Sydney Fish Market return $278,000 to underpaid workers.
• Kalgoorlie audits recover $139,000 for 26 security workers.
• Fair Work inspectors to call on northern Victorian employers.
• $6000 penalty for $629 underpayment.

Did you notice the last headline?
 
An underpayment to an employee of $629 cost an employer $6000 in penalties alone (not to mention possible legal costs, management time, and disruption to the operation of the business).
 
This is why it is so important to have at least a basic understanding of the Fair Work system.
 
In this special staff management report, HRwisdom will walk you through the major components of the Fair Work system and point out a few things to watch out for along the way.
 
As always, you can find various staff management ideas, employment documents, and HR templates in the HRwisdom Library.
 
Kind regards,
 
HRwisdom Support

The Fair Work Act has led to many headaches and concerns in businesses all over Australia. The clock is ticking and the countdown has begun for the major changes to employment law which will directly affect you and your employees.

As part of our ongoing commitment to helping Australian employers manage their staff even better during these challenging times, we recently provided our free subscribers with the opportunity to ask your own specific Fair Work Act questions to our guest expert, Ron Jones.

As a very experienced and knowledgeable management consultant, Ron is heavily involved in resolving IR and HR issues for organisations struggling to cope with the ambiguities of the Fair Work Act changes.

Ron has studied the changes and believes there are two major areas of concern: a new set of National Employment Standards and the award modernisation process.

Specific Fair Work Questions Answered

You may want to know:

• Does the Fair Work Act apply to us?
• We already have an employment agreement in place – can’t we just keep using this?
• Does this mean that our letters of offer and employment contracts no longer apply?
• What exactly do we need to do before 1 January 2010?

What Were The Questions Answered?

To see the Fair Work Act questions answered by Ron, all you need to do is to scroll down to the Comments section of this specific blog posting (if you can’t see the Comments section at the bottom, you may need to click on the top title of this post first).

Share Learnings With Colleagues

Do let your friends and colleagues know about this set of questions and answers. They’ll benefit from Ron’s insights and the whole HRwisdom community can learn from the online HR discussion. The link is:

http://blog.hrwisdom.com.au/2009/10/fair-work-act-questions-ask-an-expert/

Remember that there have been many additions and updates made to the HRwisdom HR documents for the Fair Work Act. You can access the documents now here: HR Advice.

Kind regards,

HRwisdom Support

As a follow-up to our recent HRwisdom blog post (Compliance Changes Required For Fair Work Act) we wanted to remind all HRwisdom members that we have been busy updating the HRwisdom Library documents to comply with the new Fair Work employment laws, particularly those that took effect from 1 July 2009. During this process, we have also taken the opportunity to fine tune many of the documents to improve their look, feel and content.

Please also note another recent HRwisdom blog posting (HR Links and HR Web Sites) we shared a useful list of HR links for HR web sites and sites for human resources staff and employers in general.

Below are some more details on the recently updated employment templates, employment letters, HR policies, HR forms, and other such human resources documents.
 
HR POLICIES
 
Anti-Discrimination & EEO Policy
This Policy has been updated to: fine tune the document; comply with the Fair Work Act; and include additional references to associated documents.
 
EEO for Women in the Workplace Policy
This document has been updated to: clarify purpose, commencement and application of the policy; include additional references to associated documents; and revise the commentary to ensure consistency with suggestions made by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA).
 
Emergency Evacuation Policy
The Emergency Evacuation Policy has had a format change for enhanced user-friendliness and the commentary has been revised.
 
Employee Input Policy
The Employee Input Policy has been updated: to note it’s not to be used for EEO or harassment complaints; to refine its wording; and to add reference to associated documents.
 
First Aid Policy
The commentary to the First Aid Policy now includes references to associated documents, and the Policy has been updated to clarify that it does not form part of the employee’s contract of employment.
 
Induction Policy
This document and its commentary have been updated to: clarify the commencement date and application of the Policy; revise content with respect to mentoring of new employees; comply with the Fair Work Act; and include additional references to associated documents.
 
No-Smoking Policy
The layout of the No-Smoking Policy and commentary has been updated and is now a clearer and more useful tool in assisting employers to implement a no-smoking policy in their workplace. The Policy has also been updated to comply with the Fair Work Act and now includes additional references to associated documents.
 
Performance and Misconduct Policy
The Performance and Misconduct Policy and commentary have been updated to comprehensively explain the concept of the management of performance and conduct. The updated Policy takes into account the introduction of the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code, and any applicable exclusions under the Fair Work Act.
 
Probation Employment Policy
The Probationary Employment Policy has been updated to revise the commentary, contents and terminology for consistency with the Fair Work Act; and to include references to associated documents.
 
Timesheet Policy
This document has been updated to: include additional references to associated documents; revise the commentary, in particular to ensure that the record-keeping requirements are explained in a way that is consistent with the provisions contained under the Fair Work Regulations 2009 (Cth); amend the content of the Policy to make clear its objective; and amend the format of the policy to include user-friendly headings and provisions relating to its commencement and application.
 
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
 
Deed of Release
This document will help you to create a simple Deed of Release, whereby a payment of money is made to an employee to conclude the employment relationship, in exchange for the employee agreeing to settle or not to bring a claim, against the business.
 
CORRESPONDENCE
 
Letter — Advising of Future Redundancies
This document has been updated to: include additional references to associated documents; revise the commentary, in particular with respect to the meaning of genuine redundancy under the Fair Work Act; and to reflect considerations of redeployment prior to an employer’s definite decision to terminate employment due to redundancy.
 
Letter Enclosing Deed of Release 
This document and its commentary have been updated to comply with the Fair Work Act and include references to associated documents.
 
Letter to Employee Regarding Voluntary Redundancy
This document has been updated to: include additional references to associated documents; revise the commentary, in particular with respect to the meaning of genuine redundancy under the Fair Work Act; and revise terminology.
 
Letter to Employee — Termination Due to Redundancy
This document has been updated to: include additional references to associated documents; revise the commentary, in particular with respect to the meaning of genuine redundancy under the Fair Work Act; and revise content to reflect considerations of redeployment prior to definite decision to terminate employment due to redundancy.
 
Notice of Meeting
This correspondence document has been updated as follows: to clarify that if the employee chooses to bring a support person (such as a union representative) into the meeting, the support person may not answer on the employee’s behalf or disrupt the meeting; amendment of the correspondence to cater for national and non-national system employers; revision of the commentary; and inclusion of references to associated documents.
 
Probation Terminated Letter
This document has had the following updates: changes to the content in line with the Fair Work Act; removal and addition of checklist content; revision of the commentary; and inclusion of references to associated documents.
 
Redundancy Letter to Centrelink
This letter and its commentary have been updated to comply with new redundancy notification requirements which apply to national and non-national systems employers under the Fair Work Act.
 
Redundancy Letter to Union
This document has been updated to: include additional references to associated documents and revise the content and commentary in accordance with the Fair Work Act, for example, with respect to the meaning of a genuine redundancy.
Summary Dismissal Letter
This document and its commentary have been updated to comply with the Fair Work Act and include additional references to associated documents.
 
Warning Letter
This letter has been updated to refine the wording and include references to associated documents.
 
CHECKLISTS
 
Performance Management Checklist
This document has been updated to: include additional references to associated documents; revise the commentary; and revise the steps in conducting the interview and the ongoing processes.
 
Property Return Checklist
This document and its commentary have been updated to provide a more streamlined checklist for the return of employer property upon the termination of an employee’s employment. The document has also been updated to comply with the Fair Work Act and include additional references to associated documents.
 
Redundancy Checklist
This document has been updated to: include additional references to associated documents; revise the commentary, in particular with respect to the meaning of genuine redundancy under the Fair Work Act; re-categorise and re-format the Checklist under convenient sub-headings so that the checklist reflects the sequence of tasks to be completed in the process of redundancy; revise the content to ensure employer considers options of redeployment prior to making the decision to terminate employee(s) due to redundancy; revise the content to include consideration of objective selection criteria when choosing which employee will be terminated as a result of a redundancy; and amend the Checklist to remind user to comply with consultation in accordance with any applicable award, contract or workplace policy.
 
Resignation Checklist
This document and its commentary have been updated to: include additional matters that may be attended to by an employer on the resignation by an employee; comply with the Fair Work Act; and include additional references to associated documents.
 
Termination Checklist
This document has had the following updates: format and style change; changes to the content in line with the Fair Work Act; removal and addition of Checklist content; revision of the commentary; and inclusion of references to associated documents.
 
We will keep you updated as we add more documents and resources to the HRwisdom Library.

Kind regards,

HRwisdom Support

At HRwisdom we are always bringing our members new ways to manage their employees in good times and bad. We have recently focussed on providing you with information on the new Fair Work Act. In this HRwisdom blog post, we will look at how to use deeds of release to avoid employment law litigation.
 

What is a Deed of Release?

In the context of an employment relationship, a Deed of Release is a written instrument which can be used to record the terms of an agreement reached between an employer and an employee in respect of a workplace issue.
 
To be called ‘a Deed’, the document must comply with certain established legal formalities. For example, the execution provisions of the instrument must state that the document will be ‘Executed as a Deed’ and must include the words ‘signed, sealed and delivered’. 

How can a Deed of Release potentially benefit your business?

You can use a Deed of Release to record the terms of settlement which have been agreed between you and an employee, about an existing claim or a potential claim (because a legal risk exists), which may be made by an employee against the business at a future date.
 
Settlement may occur in the context of litigation initiated by an employee or it may be the outcome of negotiations at the workplace without any actual litigation. As part of that settlement, the employee will agree to release your business from any actual or potential future legal claims (with some exceptions), in exchange for receiving a payment of money (or some other benefit).
 
For the Deed to be enforceable, the benefit offered to the employee, should be in addition to any entitlement the employee is entitled to receive, irrespective of the Deed. For example, offering to pay an employee their accrued annual leave entitlements (on termination of their employment), in exchange for them agreeing to and abiding by the terms of a Deed of Release, is unlikely to be enforced by a court, if the Deed is subject to challenge.
 
To increase the chances of the Deed being enforced, if it is subject to challenge, you should ensure:

• The employee is given a reasonable opportunity to obtain any advice (legal, financial or otherwise) they require about the Deed, prior to signing it.
• The employee is given a reasonable period of time to read and consider the Deed (i.e. not forced to sign it on the spot).
• The employee is not pressured or bullied into signing the Deed (i.e. is not subjected to undue influence or duress).
• No misrepresentations are made to the employee in relation to the Deed.
• No-one associated with the business witnesses the employee’s signature on the Deed.
• You carefully consider the obligations you require the employee to meet in exchange for the benefit(s) provided and ensure these are included in the Deed.
• The release(s) which will be provided by the employee are sufficient for the particular circumstances and will protect the business (and if necessary, any related entity).

How Can HRwisdom Help?

We have added two new documents to the HRwisdom Library to assist you in your attempts to resolve your workplace issues with your employees, whilst at the same time, taking steps to reduce the risk of legal claims against your business.

Deed of Release

This document will help you to create a simple Deed of Release, whereby a payment of money is made to an employee to conclude the employment relationship, in exchange for the employee agreeing to settle or not to bring a claim, against the business. 

Letter enclosing Deed of Release

This document will help you to create a ‘without prejudice’ letter to an employee, enclosing the Deed of Release. It will assist you to maintain the negotiations with the relevant employee on a ‘without prejudice’ basis.

Kind regards,

HRwisdom Support

At HRwisdom, we are always striving to keep our members up to date and informed of both legislative changes and clever ways to manage their staff.

We have compiled a useful list of HR links for HR web sites and sites for human resources staff and employers in general.

Amongst others, we have included such HR web sites as:

• ACT Human Rights Commission
• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
• Australian Fair Pay Commission
• Australian Human Rights Commission (formerly known as HREOC)
• Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
• Department of Immigration and Citizenship
• Fair Work Ombudsman
• Fair Work Online
• Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commission
• NSW Industrial Relations Commission
• NSW WorkCover Authority
• Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commission
• Queensland Department of Employment and Industrial Relations
• Queensland WorkCover Authority
• Safe Work Australia
• South Australian Equal Opportunity Commission
• South Australian Industrial Relations Tribunals
• South Australian WorkCover Authority
• Tasmanian Industrial Commission
• Tasmanian Office of the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner
• Tasmanian WorkCover Authority
• Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
• Victorian Industrial Relations
• Victorian WorkSafe Authority
• Western Australian Equal Opportunity Commission
• Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission
• Western Australian WorkCover Authority

You can find the HR web sites at: HR Web Sites.

Kind regards,

HRwisdom Support

• Deed of Release – Used when a payment of money is made to an employee to conclude the employment relationship, in exchange for the employee agreeing to settle or not to bring a claim, against the business.
• Performance and Misconduct Policy – Updated to comprehensively explain the concept of the management of performance and conduct. The updated Policy takes into account the introduction of the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code, and any applicable exclusions under the Fair Work Act.
• Performance Management Checklist
• Employee Warning Letter
• Termination Checklist – Changes made to the content in line with the Fair Work Act; changes to the Checklist content; and changes to Notes To Employer.
• Summary Dismissal Letter
• Anti-Discrimination & EEO Policy
• Emergency Evacuation Policy
• Resignation Checklist
• Employee Input Policy
• First Aid Policy
• Induction Policy
• No-Smoking Policy
• Timesheet Policy
• Property Return Checklist
• Redundancy Checklist – Updated to: include additional information on the meaning of genuine redundancy under the Fair Work Act; re-format the Checklist so that it reflects the sequence of tasks to be completed in the process of redundancy; revise the content to ensure employer considers options of redeployment prior to making the decision to terminate employee(s) due to redundancy; revise the content to include consideration of objective selection criteria when choosing which employee will be terminated as a result of a redundancy; and amend the Checklist to remind user to comply with consultation in accordance with any applicable award, contract or workplace policy.
• Letter Advising of Future Redundancies
• Letter to Employee For Termination Due to Redundancy - Updated to include additional information on the meaning of genuine redundancy under the Fair Work Act; and revise content to reflect considerations of redeployment prior to definite decision to terminate employment due to redundancy.
• Notice of Meeting With Employee – Updated to clarify that if the employee chooses to bring a support person (such as a union representative) into the meeting, the support person may not answer on the employee’s behalf or disrupt the meeting; amendment of the correspondence to cater for national and non-national system employers; and revision of the Notes To Employer.
• Probation Terminated Letter
• Redundancy Letter to Centrelink

Browse the HRwisdom Library for redundancy letters, redundancy forms and redundancy templates.

In a recent HRwisdom blog posting on practical advice on how to terminate employees, we examined some of the legal aspects of termination and making staff redundant.

Thanks to our partnership with Business Essentials, we can bring you a free short, sharp audio interview with a legal expert on how to avoid staff retrenchments.

In this free interview, you’ll hear plenty of ideas and legal advice about how to avoid out-and-out staff retrenchments during tough economic times.

Part-time roles or job-sharing, for example, are more palatable than laying off staff members altogether but they’re not without risk.

You’ll learn about the benefits and the legal traps of some of the ways of avoiding staff retrenchments.

To hear the interview, just click on redundancy interview and scroll through the Human Resources section.

Kind regards,

HRwisdom Support
Browse the HRwisdom Library for redundancy letters, redundancy forms and redundancy templates.

In these legalistic times it is very important to do things properly when it comes to terminating employees and managing redundancies.

This is particularly with the new Fair Work Act coming into play.

To minimise the risk of unfair dismissal claims, let’s take a look at some aspects of terminations…

Click for: Termination Letters, Termination Forms, Redundancy Letter templates.

Practical point: Consider termination issues before the employee starts work

Address the termination of employment process at the pre-employment stage by carefully drafting the employment contract. Make sure you refer to termination of employment provisions in the contract, at least stating the agreed period of notice by each party.

In addition, have clear, unambiguous written HR policies covering conduct in the workplace, covering a wide range of issues such as workplace safety, sexual harassment, dress requirements, use of email and employer’s property, attendance/timekeeping, termination procedures and other relevant issues. These policies should flag any conduct that would be a serious breach of the employment contract and indicate the consequences of a breach.

Equal opportunity laws affect unlawful dismissal

Federal and State equal opportunity and anti-discrimination legislation sets out a wide range of grounds of discrimination in employment situations that are unlawful. Ensure you are familiar with the provisions of the legislation that cover your employees.

Minimum notice periods for dismissed employees

The Federal minimum notice periods contained in the Fair Work Act, which also apply widely elsewhere (eg in many awards and agreements) are as follows:

Continuous service

Not more than 1 year (1 week)
More than 1 year but not more than 3 years (2 weeks)
More than 3 years but not more than 5 years (3 weeks)
More than 5 years (4 weeks)

(Note that employees who are over 45 years of age and have worked 2 years or more are entitled to receive an extra week’s notice, but do not have to provide extra notice to the employer.)
 
The noticed prescribed under the Act is the minimum notice that should be given to terminate the employment. If an employee’s contract, award or enterprise agreement prescribes a greater period of notice, that greater period must be given.
 
This notice does not apply in all termination situations, e.g. summary dismissal. Specific advice on relevant notice periods should be sought.

More on notice periods

If the contract is silent as to notice, reasonable notice will be implied. Reasonable notice is a vague term and can be very substantial in some circumstances. This is why it is important to have in place a written contract that specifies the notice required by both parties to terminate the employment.

Notice is not normally required for casual employees (except as required by an award, agreement or contract). Although, long-term casual employees may qualify for some other entitlements. For fixed-term and fixed-project employees, the contract should specify a date or event (eg completion of a project) upon which the contract ends, but you need to check the contract in case it has any other provisions, eg for termination before the specified date/event occurs.

It is important to note the minimum notice periods prescribed do not apply to all employees, e.g. those who are summarily dismissed. Legal advice should be sought on the relevant amount of notice (if any) to provide on termination.

Redundancy severance payments

For employees of corporations with less than 15 employees, generally no extra severance pay in addition to the minimum notice requirements is payable. From 1 January 2010 most employees will be entitled to severance pay on redundancy. Legal advice should be sought in the event of a redundancy.

See an earlier HRwisdom blog post on how to manage redundancies without destroying all employee goodwill.

Get things in writing

If an employee resigns or retires, ask him/her to confirm it in writing. If the employee cannot or will not confirm in writing, issue a letter confirming that you accept the verbal resignation/retirement.

If you dismiss an employee, you must issue a letter confirming the dismissal. It is also best practice if you briefly explain the reasons for the termination in writing. If there are events that led up to the dismissal, keep records of them as well.

It is also a requirement under the Fair Work Act to set out in writing the actual date of termination of employment.

The employee should receive a written statement of termination entitlements. This statement sets out calculations for each component – ordinary pay, severance pay, leave payments, other payments and tax deducted.

Notify other affected parties

Where the employee is involved in a workers compensation or other insurance-related issues, seek advice in advance of the dismissal and keep your insurers informed during the process, preferably in writing. Inform other people who will be affected by the employee’s departure, such as other employees or external people who regularly deal with the employee.

Return of company property

It is prudent to prepare a checklist of any property issued to the employee, to ensure that everything is returned upon termination of employment. See the HRwisdom Library “Property Return Checklist”.

If it’s an ‘unusual’ type of termination…

Some types of termination situations only happen rarely. These may include abandonment of employment by the employee, repudiation of the employment contract by either employer or employee, death of the employee, or the employee is unable to continue working (or to resume work), because of long-term injury or illness. Many of these situations will require specific procedures to be followed. Employers who encounter them should seek further advice from their employer association or a legal adviser.

Kind regards,

HRwisdom Support

Click to browse the HRwisdom Library

Recently the team at HRwisdom were enjoying a laugh about some of the HR (Human Resources) horror stories that can happen when businesses have the wrong type of person in their organisation.

One HR horror story came from a manufacturing plant in the Acacia Ridge area of Brisbane where a sales person at the sales counter had accidentally bumped the silent security alarm (the alarm button was under the desk).

Within minutes, police cars with sirens wailing came screeching into the factory car park with the police expecting to encounter an armed robbery in full flight.

The poor sales person was a little red-faced as she explained to the police officers what she had done.

In the meantime, however, a number of “highly valued” employees had heard the police sirens and, thinking the police had finally caught up with them, jumped the back fence and took off, never to be seen again . . .

Click here for: Recruitment Tool

Also, a comment with an HR horror story was left on one of our other blog postings (see: making staff redundant). The comment included an HR horror story involving a drunk employee and the CEO – never a good combination.

The moral of the story is, of course, that it is far easier to manage a business when you have the right people in the right roles.

A little effort in the recruitment phase can save you from a great number of headaches later (although you may not have as many funny HR horror stories to laugh about in years to come).

Do you have a funny HR Horror Story to share?

Share your funny HR horror story with the rest of the HRwisdom community now.

Simply leave a comment (use any username of your choice – the password gets instantly emailed to you) with your favourite HR Horror story of an underperforming employee, difficult employees, or perhaps some disciplinary indiscretion.

As we often do here at HRwisdom, we will send you another great HRwisdom resource to thank you for being an active member of the HRwisdom community.

One thing, it is probably wise to leave out the names of companies or people in your HR horror story…

We look forward to reading your HR Horror story below!

HRwisdom Support

Click to browse the HRwisdom Library