2012 Vinnies CEO Sleepout – Thursday 21 June 2012

Sophie — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:13:49 +0000

There are more than 100,000 Australians who are homeless each night of the year. Just under half of these are women; a quarter of these are under the age of 18.

On Thursday 21^st June 2012, our CEO, Lyndell Fogarty, will participate in the annual Vinnies CEO Sleepout, with nothing more than a sleeping bag and a piece of cardboard for protection.

Sadly, Lyndell will be experiencing what is a reality for some every night of the week. But through the Vinnies CEO Sleepout and the support of the community, we can put an end to homelessness in Australia.

And this is where you come in.

performHR is offering the chance for any organisation that donates $100 or more to Lyndell to go into the draw to win a HRheathcheck via phone (for new clients) or a 95 minute ‘How to have difficult conversations’ workshop (for existing clients).

All money raised goes directly towards the ongoing provision of Vinnies’ homeless services around Australia:

$50 can provide a meal and educational resource for a disadvantaged child.

$100 can help ensure a family keeps its power on this winter.

$200 provides emergency accommodation and food to a family in crisis.

$500 could relocate and establish a homeless person into one of the Society’s homeless accommodation services.

$1,000 would pay the rent for a family facing eviction from their home.

Please donate to this worthwhile cause at: https://www.ceosleepout.org.au/donate/online-donation/

Upcoming Increase to Minimum Pay Rates

Perform HR — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:24:16 +0000

It’s nearly that time of the year where Fair Work Australia’s Minimum Wage Panel announces the national minimum wage for both award and agreement free employees, to come into operation on 1^st July of the following financial year.

Employers bound by an Enterprise Agreement (EA) made since 1 January 2010 are required to not only keep pace with the Modern Award rates, which will also increase on the 1^st July, but this likely increase in minimum wage.

In some states where the introduction of Modern Awards involved a rise in minimum award rates, the increase will need to be considered when calculating the modern award transitional arrangements which provide for progressive adjustment of rates.

In most cases, employers who are currently paying higher than the Modern Award will be able to absorb the increase into their current higher rates, however care will need to be taken to ensure the rates (and conditions) are still higher once the increase has taken effect.

peformHR will be closely monitoring the decision and will issue an update to our newsletter recipients in early June.

Remember, failure to comply can result in underpayments, employee complaints, prosecution and penalties – so if you require assistance in determining new rates for your employees, please feel free to contact performHR on 1300 40 60 05 or info@performhr.com.au.

By Rosalind Loxton, HR Business Partner.

Changes to Superannuation in Australia

Perform HR — Fri, 11 May 2012 05:59:34 +0000

2012 has seen significant changes to the legislation surrounding superannuation in Australia; most importantly an increase from 9% to 12% of the amount of Superannuation Guarantee (SG) an employer is required to pay.

In order for employers to take the increase into account when negotiating future wage agreements, there will be an extended lead time, with the increase implemented over seven years:

Year Commencing	%
1^st July 2013	9.25
1^st July 2014	9.5
1^st July 2015	10
1^st July 2016	10.5
1^st July 2017	11
1^st July 2018	11.5
1^st July 2019	12

According to the Federal Government, the 33% increase in the SG rate will give a 30-year-old on average full-time wages an extra $108,000 in retirement savings just by turning up for work.

These legislative changes also have an effect on the age limit for payment of the superannuation guarantee, the introduction of a new low income superannuation contribution and stricter requirements for employers to report to employees regarding the timing of actual superannuation payments.

So what does this mean for employers?

Employers need to review their employment arrangements to ensure compliance with the new superannuation guarantee obligations.

Employers need to review their current employment contracts, specifically those that stipulate specific superannuation rates and update where necessary.

Employers should also take these legislative changes into account when undertaking salary reviews over the next few years.

Employers need to consider these changes when looking at budgets or contracts that extend beyond 2013/14.

Employers need to check that their payroll software packages have updates that will ensure superannuation payments from July 1^st 2012 are reported correctly on payslips.

If you have any questions regarding the impact these superannuation changes will have upon your business, please contact performHR at info@performhr.com.au.

By Rosalind Loxton, HR Business Partner.

Working from Home : The Do’s and Don’ts

Perform HR — Fri, 11 May 2012 03:45:52 +0000

Situation: A full-time employee who is about to return from maternity leave enquires about working from home on certain days.

Do:

Ask the employee to put in writing their request and present a business case – While the National Employment Standards (NES) provides for parents/carers with children under school age to request a change in working arrangements, it is also up to the employee to explain how this would benefit the business.
Complete a cost-benefit analysis – Investigate the actual cost of putting this option into place and the cost if something were to happen e.g. The employee is unproductive or is injured vs. the cost of hiring someone else and losing intellectual capitol if the employee leaves the business for a competitor with more flexible working policies.
Consider WHS obligations under the new legislation – For example, a qualified professional will be required to conduct a formal assessment of the room that the employee will work, as well as any other rooms used during work hours, such as the kitchen and bathroom. This can cost around $300-$400 per assessment.
Develop ways for monitoring the employee’s performance – Eg. Providing proof of work completed such as work reports and attendance records.
Consider the strategic direction of the business – Will this request for flexible working arrangements create an expected precedence? Or will it be a key retention strategy for the business?

Don’t:

Issue ‘informal’ working from home arrangements – A clear policy and procedure to follow for all employees needs to be in place, promoting fairness in the workplace.
Leave the employee in the dark – Ensure the employee understands that while there are many benefits to working from home, there are additional requirements, including reporting productivity and being self motivated.
Let the employee think working from home is a replacement for childcare – It isn’t. Appropriate care for children must be provided during work hours or productivity will be affected and WHS liability will increase.
Delay response – Once an employee puts this request in writing, it needs to be responded to in writing within 21 days. If the employee’s request is rejected, it must be done so on reasonable business grounds.
Just say ‘no’ – If the employee cannot be offered a working from home arrangement, try to find some sort of compromise. Part-time hours? Job share? Alternative start/ finish times?

The reality is that the business environment is changing. Changes in workforce demographics and the way in which we work are forcing companies to think of new ways to attract and retain their best talent.

Instead of waiting for an employee to return from maternity leave, be proactive and start discussing flexible working policies now and how they will factor into the business strategy.

By Grace McAuliffe, HR Advisor.

A Message From Our Friends At LeapFrog Ability

Sophie — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:50:48 +0000

Fair Go For Kids would like to invite you to join us at the next Hunter’s Kindest Companies Meet and Greet. As you may know, Fair Go For Kids is determined to bring together like-minded, local business people to network, while at the same time, helping local children in need. We are having great success on both fronts and would like to share and continue these achievements with your organisation. Please click here to read our newsletters and for further information.

The event will be a morning tea held at Event Cinemas, Glendale. We will introduce Newcastle and Hunter Valley business people to the Hunter’s Kindest Companies initiative with a short presentation and guest speakers who will share their Fair Go For Kids experiences with you. There will be time for questions and suggestions and opportunities to network with members and like-minded local business people. You are also welcome to invite friends or associates, so please forward this invitation to your appropriate contacts.

You will see the outstanding benefits that the Hunter’s Kindest Companies collective donations have made to local children who would otherwise still be waiting for support. Seating is limited, so please RSVP as soon as possible. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to call or email me.

Connor Brown

Business Development Manager

LeapFrog ability

37 Fern Street

ISLINGTON NSW 2296

Ph 4979 7777 fax 4940 0048.

www.leapfrog.org.au

Organisational Engagement Survey

Perform HR — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:36:22 +0000

Organisational engagement: We have all heard about it (sometimes too much!), we all know why we complete surveys about it, and we all know what benefit it will bring to the organisation…but does anyone actually know what the results of these organisational engagement surveys tell you?

Sure, it will tell you how many of your employees are engaged and to what degree, but when you really think about it, what actually is engagement and what are the results of your organisational engagement survey actually telling you about your business and the effect your employees’ engagement will have on it?

At its most basic, engagement can be described as the extent of individual discretionary effort that you don’t have to ask, threaten, cajole or plead for. The results of your organisational engagement survey, then, measures whether the actual engagement of your employees, along with the business environment and benefits and motivators you provide, is meeting your business’ objectives.

The scores of your organisational engagement surveys are important and there is a direct correlation between these scores and the success of your business.

To find out more, AltusQ and Red Balloon are running workshops throughout April to discuss the findings from their 2012 Engagement Capability survey.

The Engagement Capability Workshop draws on the evidence collected from over 900 organisations throughout Australia and New Zealand to offer you the unique opportunity to gain invaluable insight and resources you need to create a better business environment for engaged employees.

Melbourne: Wednesday 18th April, Citigate Hotel
Brisbane: Thursday 19th April, Sebel Hotel
Sydney: Friday 20th April, The Grace Hotel
Perth: Monday 23rd April, Citigate Hotel
Adelaide: Tuesday 24th April, The Sebel Playford Hotel
Newcastle: Friday 27th April, Sebel on the Beach

By Elyse Ashcroft, HR Team Lead.

Volunteers and WHS

Perform HR — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 05:00:36 +0000

The Work Health Safety (WHS) Act changes, which came into effect in five of Australia’s nine jurisdictions in January, have created significant uncertainty for volunteers and employers who engage volunteers, leaving businesses unsure as to whether it is worth engaging volunteers at all.

However, there a just few simple questions you can answer to determine your health and safety obligations to volunteers:

Are you a volunteer association?
Do you have one or more “community purposes”? E.g. Local gardening society.
Is the only time you pay someone for carrying out work for you when you’re hiring contractors to assist you in support areas of your business? E.g. Accountancy.

If you answered “Yes” to all of the above questions, then you are automatically exempt from the new laws.

If you answered “No” to any or all of the above questions, then you most likely come under the definition of a ‘PCBU’, (‘person conducting a business or undertaking’), meaning you have duties to all of your ‘workers’, including volunteers.

But don’t panic!

A ‘PBCU’ has the responsibility to ensure the health and safety, so far as is reasonably practicable, of any person who carries out work for you in any capacity (a ‘worker’). Note the ‘reasonably practicable’ component of the duty. If your organisation is run by volunteers, this is a factor that will be taken into account in determining what is ‘reasonably practicable’ for the organisation to do in any given circumstance.

If you were already using health and safety systems for your paid employees, in NSW, your previous absolute duty has actually been reduced, while the pool of people to which you owe duties has widened. So if we get right down to the basics, you just need to widen the scope of your organisation’s already established health and safety system.

How can you comply with your duties to your volunteers?

Become familiar with the WHS laws – visit safeworkaustralia.gov.au, call the Volunteer Assistance Line on 02 6240 4990 or email Volunteers@SafeWorkAustralia.gov.au.
Review your current policies and procedures, particularly consultation arrangements, to ensure they include workers who are volunteers.
Ensure that volunteers are aware of the work group they belong to, who their health and safety representative is and who they can go to with WHS concerns.
Go to Volunteering Australia for more info – http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org.

Remember, health and safety isn’t meant to be scary. It is just a way of ensuring that any worker, anywhere in Australia, has the right to return home from work safe, including those who give up their time voluntarily.

By Grace McAuliffe, HR Advisor.

Easter and ANZAC Day Holidays 2012

Sophie — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:33:20 +0000

While Easter is a wonderful time to be a kid, with long weekends, school holidays and the guarantee of more chocolate than you can handle, it’s not such a wonderful time to be an adult. In amongst spending frustratingly long hours in holiday traffic with a chorus of complaints from the backseat, to camping in torrential rain for four days, there’s the added pressure of running a business that is open over the public holiday period.

As each State and Territory gazettes different days as public holidays during Easter, it is your obligation as an employer to be aware of what days, where, which will impact upon your business.

With the assistance of the NSW Business Chamber we’ve compiled a list below of the days that have been declared public holidays in each State and Territory.

The National Employment Standards (NES) have very clear requirements around the entitlement for employees to take declared public holidays and to be paid their base rate for the ordinary hours they would otherwise have worked on the day. The NES also entitles employees to reasonably refuse a request from their employer to work on a public holiday.

Where an employee is requested and agrees to work on a declared public holiday, the applicable penalty rate will be derived from the relevant industrial instrument (noting that where an employee is covered by a modern award, the transitional penalty rate should be applied, where applicable). Some modern awards also have additional provisions about public holidays.

To assist with flexibility in staffing for a public holiday, a common provision in modern awards allows the employer and majority of employees to agree to substitute another day for a public holiday with the employee’s agreement. This means that the substitute day is the public holiday for both the NES and the award’s penalties, but there may be special provisions in the award for specific public holidays.

Easter period

The public holidays for each State and Territory for Easter are listed below:

New South Wales

Friday, 6 April 2012 (Good Friday)

Saturday, 7 April 2012 (Easter Saturday)

Sunday, 8 April 2012 (Easter Sunday)