New Employment Laws begin January 1 2010 and the devil is in the detail….
Half of the Fair Work Act was made law back in July and the second stage becomes live in only two days on January 1 2010. And its not a small collection of small changes: its an important piece of legislation and it changes everything.
If you lead people, and we all do, you have to be prepared so that the effects minimize the impact on your employees and your business.
There are plenty of options in becoming prepared. You can ignore it for a short period of time but not knowing the detail will get you into trouble and then you will be scrambling, not a good leadership style.
There are plenty of articles on line and in print most simply regurgitate the Fair Work Act and provide some generic hints tips and clues on getting ready. Pawing over the changes personally may not be the best use of your time nor is following a generic set of tips a strategy. The real challenge is to put together a people strategy that is compliant with the law, that is aligned with your overall business strategy and supports your goals. Each business, each leader is unique as are your people and your strategy needs to reflect your own unique circumstances. There’s the law and then there is managing your business and your people.
An approach many of our clients have chosen is to invite us into their business, to understand their goals, their structure, their people and the issues that need resolving. They have let us sort through the detail of the Fair Work Act and the implications for their business. Then we build a plan tailored for them and their own unique circumstances. That way they remain in control, stay out of the detail and are focused on leading: now thats a strong leadership style…….
Comment by admin
My business has 15 people if you count the casuals do I include myself to make up the 15 defined as a small business by Fair Work?
Also I have an employee who went on maternity leave last December and she is considering extending it for another 12 months can she do this?
Comment by Sally
If I make someone redundant, what entitlements do I have to pay under this new act?
Comment by admin
Sally there are a couple of issues here. Small business, with less than 15 employees is exempt from paying redundancies: you do however need to look for another position in your organization that you may be able to redeploy your employee. If you are thinking about a “significant” restructure to you business seek some counsel so that any transition is managed with a limited amount of disruption. As to entitlements there is a matrix that covers redundacy payments depending on the years of continuous service. It can be tricky, get some guidance.