News & Resources - Virtual Human Resources

Individual Flexibility Agreements

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -1000

Individual Flexibility Agreements

The Fair Work Act 2009 , allows certain terms to be varied in order to meet the needs of individual employers and employees. This allows the company to increase it's flexibility in achieving it's goals as well as the specific needs of individual employees allowing them to achieve greater work life balance.

What are the employer's responsibility?

The employer is required to ensure that the employee covered by the individual Flexibility Agreement (IFA) is better off overall on the IFA than the award or enterprise agreement entered into.

It is the employer's responsibilty to ensure that an employee has genuinely agreed to the IFA.

IF the IFA is not made in accordance with the Fair Work Act the company may incur penalties of up to $6,600 for individuals or $3,300 for body corporate.

An employee can terminate an IFA if they believe that they are disadvantaged and can take action for compensation if that is the case.

What matters may be varied in the awards?

Arrangements for when work is performed such as working hours
Overtime rates
Penalty rates
Allowances
Leave Loading

Employers need to have a process in place that allows for consultation regarding flexible work practices. Virtual HR can assist you by providing the necessary contracts (templates) which include the relevant flexibility terms, and ensures that you are compliant. We also provide the necessary appendages to accompany the contracts.

Virtual HR can assist you to ensure that your contracts are always updated and fully compliant.

Fair Work Act now in effect

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -1000

The Fair Work Act

The Fair Work Act came into effect on the 1st January 2010. It is the biggest overhaul of the industrial relations system ever conducted. All the states with the exception of WA have moved over to the federal system. State awards will continue until the 31st of December 2010 for sole traders and partnerships but all other companies are immediately covered by the federal system (except for non Pty Ltd companies in WA.)

What does it mean to you?

The National Employment Standards are now effective even if employees are still covered by state awards. This is a safety net containing 10 basic employment entitlements and it even applies to managers earning up to $108,000p.a.

One hundred and fifty modern awards replace most of the old awards and these cover entitlements such as miminum wages, penalty rates and overtime rates but many other factors.

More than one award may apply to a single company based on the type of work performed by the employees.

Some awards will have a transition period for the new pay scales will can be phased in over a number of years. Not all awards have this clause and the new rates apply from the 1st January 2010.

All new employees must be given a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement before or immediately after commencing work. Records need to be kept on the date the statement was given to the employee and the method used give it to them.

As a consequence most company's HR manuals and other documentation will have to be updated. This is then the ideal time to move the responsibility for your HR documentation and award interpretation over to Virtual Human Resources. We will do all the work for you and make sure everything is always up to date. Contact us for more information if you want to outsource the Fairwork workload.

What is the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -1000

The new unfair dismissal laws will come into effect on the 1st of July 2009. Part of the new act is the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code. A small business under the new rulings initially refers to a business with less than 15 equivalent full-time employees. The Fair Dismissal Code does not apply to businesses larger than this.

The code requires an employer to provide on warning, either verbal or written to the employee and must also give that employee with a reasonable opportunity to respond. This means allowing enough time to allow the employee to improve their behaviour or conduct. Employers will still be entitled to terminate employees without warning in cases of serious misconduct.

Even though a verbal warning is considered sufficient, it is recommended that the warning be in writing to prevent later claims that no warning was actually given. Having formal procedures in place can reduce the risk of unfair dismissal claims. VHR is able to provide small businesses with the letter templates and procedures needed in order to manage issues surrounding staff management and termination.

What are the 10 National Employment Standards?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -1000

The National Employment Standards (NES) will apply come into effect on the 1st of January 2010 and will affect all Federal Award employees earning less than the income threshold. Employers will need to update their employment agreements and policies to reflect these new changes.

The 10 Standards are:

1. Maximum weekly hours of 38hrs per week plus reasonable additional hours.
2. Requests for flexible working arrangements for parents of children under school age.
3. Twelve months unpaid parental leave and requests for additional twelve months.
4. Four weeks annual leave as minimum
5. Ten days personal leave plus two days compassionate leave per occasion.
6. Community service leave
7. Long Service Leave
8. Paid Public Holidays
9. Minimum notice periods and redundancy entitlements
10. Provision of a fair work statement

Employers will need to ensure that their HR documentation reflects these new changes. VHR provide an audit service which will examine your current documentation and provide an action plan on how to bring your business into compliance with the new laws.