A recent press release from Fair Work Australia says a lot:

"Operators of fast-food food outlets in Brisbane have found out the hard way that paying staff what they thought was about right isn't good enough."

"What's particularly concerning is that many employers claimed to have limited knowledge of the basic entitlements of their staff, Acting Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), Bill Loizides, said." read more

The latest quarterly index of confidence in the business sector has been released from the HR Coach Research Institute read more

The Federal Government has introduced into parliament its second tranche of legislation amending the Fair Work Act. The changes to the Act include new responsibilities for the Fair Work Commission in regards to Workplace Bullying by introducing a new avenue for a employee to complain about Workplace Bullying. The bill allows a worker who believes they are being bullied at work to apply to the Commission for an order to stop the bullying. read more

The latest HR Coach Quarterly Index has been released.  The HR Quarterly Index provides a summary of industry confidence in the business sector. According to Index,  "The new year seems to be bringing a sense of conservative optimism with it. Although business confidence hasn't risen, it hasn't worsened, indicating that business sentiment could be leveling out."  According to the index, business indicators appear to be trending into positive territory  read more

We are delighted to announce an important milestone in our business. As of Monday the 4th of February 2013, People Smartz Pty Ltd will be partnering with enableHR to provide implementation and training support to Xero Accounting practices. Xero is an ASX listed online accounting and payroll tool that has rapidly gained acceptance with leading chartered accounting practices and book keeping groups. read more

We are pleased to announce the release of the February 2013 WebinHR program. Designed for small businesses, these seminars are presented by some of the best in the business and this month cover topics such as managing bullying, reducing labour costs, accessing government funding for training and simplifying recruiting.  read more

Everywhere you go today, social media is the topic. The news bulletins are telling us about "social media trolls", television advertisements invite you to "follow" a particular company and radio stations are embracing "multi-mode marketing" encouraging listeners to visit their website for more juicy information.   read more

The October WebinHR program has now been released! Great topics including "Is it costing you too much to pay your people" and "How do you hire for skill and fit". For more information on these great webinars for small business - Click Here  read more

At People Smartz we receive a large number of phone calls and website hits every month from clients, ex-clients and others requesting information regarding Small Business HR Issues. We have been keeping records for sometime about the questions asked, however, for the first time this month, we have decided to publish the top 5 topics based on the questions asked.  Our top five for the last month are: read more

Nearly everyone we talk to at the moment is describing things as quiet.... One of the best pieces of advice I could give in these situations is simple - don't let momentum drop off and keep your sales funnel full. Many businesses in a turndown take a negative approach, they reduce costs and cut down on business development activity.  In many areas of expense, cutting costs during a downturn is sensible.  However, business development is not one of those areas! It is the momentum of your business development activities that is the lifeblood of your business.  read more