By:
Natasha Hawker
We
recently sent out a survey to a number of small businesses to ascertain how
compliant they are around current employment legislation - and it made for stark reading. We had respondents from a wide range
of industries such as travel, IT, finance, accountants, events, publishing and
interior design to name just a few. The main issues centred on three key areas
– Hiring, Performance and Culture.
The main results were as follows:
· A significant number of businesses do not review
salaries annually – although this is not a legal requirement it does ensure
compliance with the Award and also benchmarks the business against competitors
·
86% of respondents had fired someone, predominantly
for non-performance or fraud and 25% had received a complaint raised against
them as a result through the Fair Work Ombudsman – this is a high proportion
and could so easily be avoided by following some processes and having documented
meetings. For everyone the experience
meant a financial penalty
·
Over 40% did not know what Modern Award their business
falls under – this is a legal requirement and it's therefore highly likely that
you are at risk of a breach with fines of $52k per breach
· Two thirds used recruitment agencies but only
50% felt that they got value for money for this spend
·
60% did not have a Workplace Health and Safety Policy
in place and many were unaware of their legal obligations in this space – this
is a high risk approach and I would encourage this to be fixed ASAP
· 45% did not have a company policy on Sexual
Harassment, Bullying and EEO and 86% had not appropriately trained their
employees on appropriate workplace behaviour – this dramatically increases direct
exposure to a claim and damages costs
· 55% did not
understand their obligations under Flexible Work and almost half still believed
that the parent on parental leave needed to return to work full time at the 12 month
mark – this is not the case - employees can request a further twelve months. They can also request leave up until their
youngest child is at school, flexible work which could mean part time, a
compressed week or working from home
· One great
result - 85% of respondents felt that their employee morale was either good or
really high – this is a fabulous result and one I would encourage you to
continue to build and reap the rewards from
The good news is that this is all easily
fixed and doesn’t have to cost very much. The best thing is that it will save
you money and, not only that, you will make more money as a business by hiring
the right people, firing the non-performers and building high performing teams.
We have all the policies you require
plus we can help you hire (and better still fire) effectively. Please call
me if you would like to chat about this further.
Natasha Hawker owns
Employee Matters Pty Ltd; an HR Consultancy that assists small to medium
businesses with their HR functions to make them more efficient and profitable. Their
offering includes HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Coaching, and Exit
Management – find them at www.employeematters.com.au
