Member You - Business

So You Want to Be a Trucker
Unemployed? Tired of your job? Want a change of lifestyle?If so, you may have noticed the ads for truck drivers. Advertisements for truck drivers are everywhere."Experienced drivers needed.""New graduates hired."You see them in newspapers, on billboards, even 800 numbers on the back of trucks. And, along with employment ads for drive

nges (in some instances).

• You will be ill advised to terminate an employee before taking advice even if you have less than 100 employees. Employees are already starting to make claims for unlawful dismissal i.e. discrimination.

• The cost of defending a discrimination claim is dramatically higher than unfair dismissal. In one case we were involved in recently for age discrimination the legal fees for defending the case were quoted at $30,000 and this was bef

Track Employee Output & Not Time
In many companies the HR department and Accounts love to have the salary of an employee deducted on the pay day based on their on-seat attendance time. This one is too harsh and especially for someone who has to sit facing the monitor continuously is a pain in the neck and eyes.At one place employers want to have every single possible check on their empl

Introduction

The successful introduction and passing of the work choices legislation in Australia in December 2005 embarks Australia on the most comprehensive shake up of industrial relations since federation.

While naturally the ‘devil is in the detail’ what we do know is the industrial and employment environment has forever changed.

Changes include

• A unitary (single) system of industrial relations where previously there had been a federal system and one for each state,

• An emphasis on the Australian economy away from wages and conditions,

• Changes to Awards and Agreements including transitional arrangements,

• A reduction in the number of awards from an estimated 4,000 to 12,

• The setting up of the Australian Fair Pay Commission to determine minimum wages and conditions,

• A reduction in the powers of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission,

• State Industrial Relation Commissions will become redundant,

• Flexible work practices and the ability to cash out of some benefits (annual leave). These changes may lead to problems with workplace health and safety obligations,

• New Dismissal Provisions that are not as straightforward as have been trumpeted,

• New transmission of business rules (buying and selling a business and your people),

• Union restrictions,

• The scrapping of the ‘no disadvantage test’.

Will these changes affect my Business!

With these changes to the industrial relations systems comes complexity. It will be a very lax business that enters this new era without some understanding of how these changes may affect their business.

Some examples include,

• Small business owners will need to understand the broader concepts of employer obligations applicable to their unique business situation.

• Your 'Accounting' software may need minor changes (in some instances).

Managing Change
How often have you heard the statement, the only thing constant is change. No kidding, right? Anyone living on the planet earth can attest to that statement.For most of us, the pace of change seems to have picked up dramatically over the past few years, thanks in part to the increased availability and use of technology, as well as the global economy in which

and one for each state,