People Smartz Blog

It is becoming more and more apparent, that no matter how small your business is, you can not avoid your obligations in regards to meeting your employer obligations.

Many thanks to our great friends at Brands Law for this great example of the line of thinking to which our courts are dealing with breaches of the Fair Work Act:

"Back in April 2011, in a case involving underpayment of penalty rates to employees, Magistrate Hawkins said there was a need to "send a message to the community at large and small employers particularly, that the correct entitlements for employees must be paid and that steps must be taken by employers (of all sizes) to ascertain and comply with minimum entitlements (as opposed to ignoring those obligations).

"Compliance should not be seen as the bastion of the large employers with human resources staff and advisory consultants (accountants, consultants, lawyers) behind them"."

In a speech in May 2011, the Fair Work Ombudsman made a point that it "was not sufficient for companies to turn a blind eye and hope that they are meeting their obligations".  He particularly made the point that companies need to make sure that they are resourcing their obligations appropriately.

With this type of language coming from our courts and the Ombudsman, it is very evident and important that all businesses, regardless of size have in place a system for ensuring compliance with their awards, the Fair Work Act and the National Employment Standards.

Our experience with small to medium sized businesses has shown that business people are finding it more and more difficult to manage these obligations.  As we have said in our blog posts before - the system itself is not built for small business.

Unfortunately, it appears that the message from our courts is that small businesses need to manage their obligations similarly to the way they would be handled in big business.  However, small businesses do not have the human resources staff etc to do that!

Understanding your obligations can be difficult and managing them can be time consuming. The place to start is to ensure you are compliant now!

Why not book one of our People and Business Reviews where we can help you identify the actions you can take to ensure you are meeting your obligations.

Book your review today!

Yes it nearing the end of the year.  We are entering party season - a great time to unwind, rub shoulders with workmates etc.  This can be a fun time!

But end of year parties have a very serious side as many of these antics lead to "regrets" after.

Recent research in Australia found that 70% of people believed that hitting the booze led to a more "personal" feeling amongst staff.  Nearly a quarter of females interviewed admitted that their boss had made a pass at them at an office party. 

Such behaviours can present many problems for businesses, particularly if the "antics" involved lead to a complaint from a member of staff regarding the behaviour of another.

It would be easy to say "no office party" or "its too risky", but sometimes the advantages of holding the party far outweigh the negatives.  The decision to have or not have one is one for the business alone. 

I would recommend a level headed approach to this years Xmas party - making sure the party is well planned and your staff are aware of the required behaviours before hand.  This way you can have the fun while managing the risk!

To help you plan for your businesses party, download our Christmas Checklist today.

Fair Work Australia has published their decision varying the General Retail Award 2010 to allow casual school aged workers to work shifts shorter than 3 hours.

The award has been varied as follows:

Clause 13.4 is varied by the addition of the following words at the end of the clause:

“provided that the minimum engagement period for an employee will be one hour and 30 minutes if all of the following circumstances apply:

(a) the employee is a full time secondary school student; and

(b) the employee is engaged to work between the hours of 3.00 pm and 6.30 pm on a day which they are required to attend school; and

(c) the employee agrees to work, and a parent or guardian of the employee agrees to allow the employee to work, a shorter period than three hours; and

(d) employment for a longer period than the period of the engagement is not possible either because of the operational requirements of the employer or the unavailability of the employee.

As we have stated in a previous blog post (Common Sense at Last! After School Work Back on the Agenda for Teenagers), we believe that this decision is a win for common sense by Fair Work Australia.  It is a pity that it has taken so long, and a needless appeal to make it happen!

To download the determination, download the Determination from Fair Work Australia

On Monday, Fair Work Australia finally laid down a decision that should have not been required in the first place.

Nearly a year and a half ago, a number of teenagers lost their after school jobs because of a clause within the General Retail Award which basically said a casual could not work for less than a 3 hour period.

For these teenagers, this effectively ruled out going to work after school as the time between school finishing and the retail outlet they worked in closing was less than 3 hours.

Now having restrictions on the minimum hours that can be worked is understandable.  In fact, to a certain extent, I support them.  However, when you are restricting the ability of teenagers to learn important work habits, then the law needs to be modified.  

Arguments from unions etc that easing this restriction would lead to "job losses" and "lower wages" did not really argue the primary point - that by enforcing this rule we were interfering with what is basically a vital learning area for our younger generations.  To suggest that allowing teenagers to work out of school hours was going to cost adults jobs just goes against the fact that most of those adults started exactly where these teenagers are now - with after school work!  Where did these adults learn the work habits that brought them to employment in later life if not in jobs such as these?

While it took 16 months and 3 rounds of arbitration to get there, this is a decision that should be congratulated. Despite the unions and government supporting the maintenance of the 3 hour limit, the tribunal has decided that provided a certain set of circumstances exist, a school aged person can work for less than a 3 hour period.

Under the new arrangements, school age persons can work a minimum of a 90-minute shift.  This will apply only if the employee is a full-time student; that the hours worked are between 3pm and 6.30pm on a school day; and the employee and their parent or guardian agrees on the shorter period. The shorter period is also allowed only if employment for a longer period is not possible because of the operational requirements of the employer or the unavailability of the student.

These arrangements are simple commonsense.  It is a pity it took so long to arrive at this decision!