This month, Terri attended an employment law update and has provided useful information on the application of the Fair Work Act. Here, we cover some of the National Employment Standards (NES) and some important things to keep in mind. Terri also provides us with information on two changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act..........
NES - Maximum hours:
Full time Contracts should state a maximum of 38 hours (‘plus reasonable additional hours’, if required). All existing contracts should be updated to reflect this figure (from the previous 40) in order to be deemed as compliant with the Fair Work Act.
Remember you can change the maximum hours if you can show that the employee is better off overall
NES - Flexible Working Arrangements:
Employees who apply for a flexible working arrangement must receive a written response to their application within 21 days from the employer. Employers must demonstrate that they have given proper and reasonable consideration to the request or they may be in breach of the Fair Work Act.
Providing flexibility for your people not only addresses compliance, you are likely to get it back too!
NES - Annual Leave Payout on Termination:
Under the NES, 4 weeks annual leave is accrued at the base rate of pay, however a contract/award/industrial instrument may provide additional benefits to this. As a result, annual leave that is paid out on termination should be paid at the rate the employee would have received had they taken the leave (ie with the additional benefits that are included in their contract/award/industrial instrument).
NES - Notice of Termination:
The scale for notice in the NES is 1-5 weeks. It is important to ensure that employees have a clause in their contract that requires them to give the period of notice or else they can resign without having to give any notice.
You can contract and provide for a greater period of notice, and it could benefit your business if a departing employee needs to stay a little longer!
Link to the Fair Work Act website for information on NES:-
Work Health & Safety – Ignore this at your peril!
From 7 June 2011 there have been changes to two points in the NSW Act.
- The employer must now ensure the safety of employees and others as far as is reasonably practicable.
- Directors and managers were deemed guilty of breaching the OH&S Act if an employee was injured. Now the responsibility for these breaches stands with an officer of the company, as defined in the Corporations Act.
Managers must have knowledge of the risks within the business.
From 1 January 2012 the Model Work Health & Safety Act will take effect. This sees a move away from the employer/employee relationship to a more inclusive definition of those covered such as sole traders, and commercial associations. The former employer term is now referred to as a person conducting a business or undertaking. An employee can be an employee, apprentice, volunteer or anyone on site. There is an obligation to consult with all stakeholders on site. There is now the safety equivalent of a union delegate that can be appointed and this person can also be the union delegate so this can create some challenges for businesses.
There is now a statutory requirement for workers to take reasonable care for their own health and safety.
Link to website :-
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