Did you know there are a number of common and costly mistakes that employers make – but they can easily be prevented. Are you making any of these mistakes? There is a tonne of legislation pertaining to employers and their employees and you need to understand what you may be liable for. Many clients that we meet are not aware of the basics and therefore exposing themselves to breaches which can be extremely costly. Check out the list below to see how you are tracking. Do you:
- Lose contact with employees on parental leave – stay close to your employees on parental leave and check in with them prior to them leaving to ascertain how much or how little contact they wish to have with the office whilst away
- Know that if you have under 15 employees, an employee cannot make a claim of unfair dismissal in the first 12 months – I would still recommend that you manage the performance correctly as this is great practice for your employees with protections around Unfair Dismissal
- An unfair dismissal case could cost you a minimum of $1,600 – if you are paying yourself $100 per hour and the employee is earning $55k + Super
- A breach of the Modern Award can attract fines of up to $52,000 per breach for a corporation – a breach could be not paying the minimum salary entitlements or bringing people in for short shifts and paying them for those
- A breach of the Modern Award can attract a fine for an individual of up to $10,200 – this can occur when a manager breaches the Award, with or without the knowledge of the company
- You must follow your policies – if you have a policy you must follow it. You cannot pick and choose when you do or don’t
- If you want to protect intellectual property or client relationships then make sure that it is covered in your employment contracts – in the ‘knowledge age’ your IP and relationships are becoming increasingly valuable – you need to protect them
- Discriminating against an employee on the basis of their age, race or carer’s responsibilities is illegal – be very careful here – employees are becoming more and more aware of their rights
- If a great employee resigns, don’t ignore it – sometimes employees will leave you thinking that there are ‘greener pastures’ but always leave the door open for them to return. This is a much cheaper and more effective hire in the future
- Are you accruing Long Service Leave for your employees? – in every state, but at varying levels, permanent and casual employees accrue LSL. Make sure that you are preparing for this
I really hope that this 40 Easy Mistakes Employers Make series has been helpful and has stopped you from making costly and avoidable mistakes. Please let me know which ones you were able to avoid as a result.
