CATEGORY 110 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST COLUMNISTS HR Hit List HR basics small business needs to think big on Pam McKean By Pam McKean, Director, AB Dental & Medical Employment Agency Keeping up with current legislation is time consuming and at times difficult to follow. The last two years has seen significant changes on various fronts with industrial relations regulation on top of managing the endless task of handling policies and procedures. Outsourcing can give you a false sense of security with some consulting firms handing you endless templates to ‘keep you compliant’ however they are just sheets of paper if not properly understood and implemented and really don’t help when it counts most. HR mistakes can lead your business down a dark and dangerous path. Improper documentation, hasty actions, and vague policies can all lead to litigation and fines. Here are some commonly ignored HR issues in small business. Not knowing current award information Are you familiar with the current industry award and what rates your staff should be paid? Changes in 2024 have left many confused about penalty rates, levels of pay, employee rights and employer responsibilities. While parts of the award may appear convoluted, you need to be up to date with what your current legal responsibilities are. Not addressing or documenting performance issues If you have employees with performance issues, do not ignore them or hope that they go away on their own. Even if terminating during probation for unsuitability, records may still be required if there is push back from the employee. There are two important reasons for managing performance issues. Firstly, it protects you and your practice. Documenting the facts and the communication that you have had with the employee on their performance will protect the practice should the employee ever file a claim. A well-documented assessment makes it easy for you (and your employee) to review performance progress – or regress. If the employee claims discrimination after a termination, you will have documentation that lays out the facts and shows that there were legitimate performance issues that were addressed with the employee. Secondly, the value of good documentation is that it aids managers in providing useful feedback to employees, leads to improved performance appraisals, and tracks both positive performance as well as areas of improvement. Documentation is the key to appropriate and effective disciplinary action. Communicating that an employee is not meeting expectation and documenting the conversations to show the seriousness of the issue, is only fair to the employee. Tolerating bad performance until it becomes a distraction for the rest of the team and you want to fire the employee immediately is not fair to that individual. If the employee doesn’t know there is a problem, he or she cannot address it. Showing that you communicated the issues with the employee will show you made a good faith effort to help the employee improve, which will help protect your business. Misclassifying your employees Do you know the difference between a contractor, casual employee, full-time and part-time employee? Do you know who can use an ABN? Don’t be fooled into classifying employees as casual or contractors to save on paperwork or money. The duties, pay, number of hours worked classify whether or not they are permanent, casual employees or contractors. There have been significant changes to Fair work legislation in 2024 and more in line for 2025. Casual employees have many rights you think may only apply to permanent full and part employees. If you employ someone on SYDNEY MELBOURNE BRISBANE ADELAIDE 15 March 29 March 7 June 21 June
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