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Karen: With the fast-paced nature of changes to employment law and HR business owners often face challenges and are at risk of making errors that can lead to compliance issues and costly consequences. In today’s podcast, we will discuss some common HR mistakes and provide a few tips on how to avoid them.
I have Peter Norrie, Senior Consultant for Effective Workplace Solutions, with me today to talk through some of these common HR mistakes and myths. Welcome Peter.
Peter, the first area I thought we would talk about is Employment Contracts.
Can you talk me through some of the mistakes that are made in this area?
Peter: Issues like still having pay secrecy clauses in agreements which is illegal, clauses which are unenforceable, utilising templates without an understanding of the document and therefore having incorrect clauses, etc.
Karen: And so Pete, what would be your tip for a business owner in relation to contracts?
Pete:
Karen: That is such practical advice, Pete.
The next area I thought we would talk about is Terminations, now obviously this area is as expansive as the Contracts topic, so we can’t hope to cover it all today, but I am sure there are a few areas of this topic that spring to mind as common mistakes that Employers make.
Pete: discuss errors with process and common costly mistakes
Karen: and so Pete, what would be your tip for a business owner in relation to Terminations?
Pete:
Karen: Terminations are always complex, so that is really helpful advice Pete.
Right, now moving onto to the next area where we see common mistakes or in fact at times no action taken at all, and that is workplace policies.
Pete: discuss set and forget attitude, not having proper definitions of terms like bullying or harassment, relying on ‘common sense’ in the absence of a policy!
A policy is a statement which underpins how human resource management issues will be dealt with in an organisation. It communicates an organisation’s values and the organisation’s expectations of employee behaviours and performance.
Workplace policies often reinforce and clarify standard operating procedure in a workplace. Well written policies help employers manage staff more effectively by clearly defining acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in the workplace, and set out the implications of not complying with those policies.
Not all workplace issues require a policy. Many routine matters can be dealt with through simple workplace procedures and processes being put in place.
Karen: and so Pete, what would be your tip for a business owner in relation to Policies?
Pete:
Pete, is great to be able to clarify the area’s of risk and exposure if the processes aren’t followed. You have certainly provided great advice and information for business owners.
I thought we would also touch on a few common HR ‘myths’ that we often see pop up as we are supporting our clients.
Karen: so the first myth, and hands down this has to be the most common one I hear:
Myth: Every employer must give three written warnings to an employee before terminating them. Peter, did you want to clarify the reality in relation to warnings?
Peter:
Fact: There are certain offences that gives employers the right to instantly terminate an employee when serious misconduct has occurred such as assault, sexual harassment, theft or being intoxicated at work. When performance-managing an employee, the number of official warnings given to an employee may vary as it depends on the circumstances but an employer must ensure that the employee is given procedural fairness and the employer must document each performance meeting and discussion on the employee’s file as this can be used if an unfair dismissal claim is made by the employee.
Karen: very sage advice there Peter. The next myth is:
Myth: It is safer for an employer to stop giving a casual ongoing shifts instead of terminating them.
Peter: Well this is certainly a common school of thought, but not necessarily the safest approach.
Fact: Casual employees generally do not have an entitlement for fixed, ongoing shifts but casual employees that have been given regular and systematic shifts can raise an unfair dismissal claim if their shifts suddenly stop for no given reason. It could be argued they were constructively dismissed by the employer. Another scenario is perhaps a casual employee has filed a complaint against the employer and their shifts suddenly stop; this could potentially raise a general protections claim.
Karen: ok, our next myth is:
Myth: Casuals are now entitled to all types of leave if they work regular and systematic shifts.
Peter:
Fact: False. Casual employees do not accrue annual leave or sick leave as their rate of pay includes a loading that is in-built into their higher rate of pay to cover for leave such as annual or sick leave. However, casual employees are entitled to compassionate leave, community service leave, family and domestic violence leave and unpaid parental leave (unpaid parental leave is dependent on regular and systemic service).
Karen: And our last myth for today:
Myth: Employers do not have to provide pay slips to employees.
Peter: It is strange to think in this day and age that this one is still making the rounds……
Fact: Payslips are compulsory and must be provided to every employee within one day of payment.
Karen:
Avoiding costly HR mistakes is crucial for the success of any business. If you have had an ah ha moment whilst listening to our chat today, we would recommend prioritising the rectification of any issues, so you are in control of managing the rectification, and not forced into addressing it as a result of a directive by an enforcement authority.