Ask an Employment Lawyer is a FREE series by Recruitment Marketing Magazine with Jonathan Mamaril, Director for NB Lawyers – Lawyers for Employers. If you’re a talent leader or HR professional subscribed to RMM, ask any talent engagement, employment law or workplace-related question and have it answered in this series.
In this instalment, Jonathan shares valuable information about what employers should expect and prioritise in 2021.
The post-pandemic landscape has meant a number of challenges for employers and HR. As an Employment Lawyer, human resources departments ask for assistance on a range of matters. Here are some quick wins for you and your HR team in 2021.
1. Prioritise good performance management training
Some companies have seen a spike in productivity and others have seen productivity limited. It is important to understand the unique problems that have compounded poor performance management.
A number of cases have succeeded against employers due to poor performance management by managers and supervisors. This has led to success in:
- unfair dismissal claims
- general protections claims
- discrimination disputes
- workers compensation claims
A focus on performance management training is the key to success. Here is some quick advice for how you can to improve staff performance from an employment lawyer:
- Ensure you have a performance management policy – if you don’t have one, develop one. It can be a great kick-starter for training
- Understand the consequences – for managers and supervisors, they need to understand what poor performance management can actually lead to – yes, there is liability for the company but also personal liability (accessorial liability). Case studies are a good way to demonstrate this.
- Consider external training, potentially from a specialist employment law firm, as they may be able to demonstrate the seriousness of performance management to managers and supervisors.
2. Review your payroll
Underpayment of wages is a significant risk for many organisations. Big names such as Woolworths, Chatime and even a former MasterChef George Calombaris have felt the wrath of the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Read more: Google pays $3.8M to settle allegations of pay, hiring discrimination
Automated payroll systems are efficient. However, keep in mind the rules you input into the system will either be wrong or right. Even if they are right – over time they could become stale and even be contrary to a legal obligation under a Modern Award.
In a previous article, I set out three key tips that to help your business to avoid risks, including:
- review your payroll system
- ensure your payroll system reflects rules of awards
- compare your HR system with your payroll system
3. Keep an eye on immigration updates
More and more opportunities around utilising a migrant workforce and skilled employees to plug gaps in the business continue to cause HR headaches.
- General Skilled
- 482
- Subclass 186
- Employer-Sponsored
- Partner Visa
- Australian citizenship
Now is a good time to understand some of the opportunities that are coming in 2021 to migration laws. Getting in touch with a migration agent, such as No Borders Migration, is a good start.
4. Industrial relations law changes
The government is looking to make changes to IR laws. At this point we understand there will be changes to:
- Casual employee rules to combat previous cases around Workpac v Rossato and Workpac v Skene
- Definition of a casual employee defined in the Fair Work Act
- Enterprise bargaining changes which may lead to a “slackening” of the BOOT test and quicker turnarounds
- Simplifying some awards including give key “distressed” industries opportunities to pay loaded rates
- Allow project life pay deals which are designed to prevent industrial (strike) action on the aspect of increased wages.
Continue to read about these issues to keep yourself informed. These changes will require a lot of preparation and potentially, advice, going forward.
Do you have a question for Jonathan? Send it to editor@www.rmm.onenazmul.dev. Jonathan and his team of employment lawyers at NB Lawyers will answer as many as they can and share these answers in Recruitment Marketing Magazine*.
*This series may be limited. Legal advice is general in nature. For tailored legal advice specific to your organisation, industry and location, speak to your organisation’s legal advisor.
Jonathan Mamaril is a Director with NB Lawyers, the Lawyers for Employers, leading the Employment Law and Commercial Law teams. Jonathan assists employers in mitigating risk and liability and advises clients on all aspects of Employment Law. His focus is on being practical and providing value for clients through education and training to help them avoid headaches in the first place; and when a problem does occur, to deal with it properly so it doesn’t become a larger, more litigious problem.