Proactive employee relations management needs to be given priority within businesses to avoid companies and their owners facing legal action for underpayment or not honouring workplace rights.
The issue of employee underpayment is gaining prominence as more employers are being “outed” for exploiting overseas workers and underpaying staff. Reports of proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court commenced against the operators of two Melbourne businesses should be a timely reminder for businesses to ensure they understand and meet their employment obligations.
Australian Workplace Strategies, which provides consultancy services to small business, statutory authorities and Australian subsidiaries of major international corporations finds that clients sometimes put proactive employee relations management into the ‘too hard basket’ or assume that employees will speak up if there is an issue.
Jim Parke from Australian Workplace Strategies Managing says: “Being aware of your employees’ rights and entitlements is not only about compliance, but also makes good business sense.
“Having the right employment structures and strategies helps small, medium and large businesses to manage costs, while maintaining staff satisfaction and minimising costly disputes.”
“Even in the busiest times of the year, the onus is on employers to ensure that they understand and comply with employment requirements. Basic obligations, such as providing Fair Work Information Statements to new employees, issuing accurate payslips and ensuring that superannuation is paid on time are fundamentals which should be manageable for all employers.
“A proactive approach to understanding minimum and agreed entitlements, ensuring enterprise and common law employment agreements remain legally compliant and complying with obligations under the National Employment Standards are ongoing tasks, which are often made more difficult if not attended to regularly,” Mr Parke said.
The Fair Work Ombudsman usually gives businesses guidance and a window of opportunity to correct mistakes and demonstrate compliance before commencing proceedings or taking other coercive regulatory action.
By the time a business becomes a party to penalty proceedings, it has usually devoted many hours to responding to requests for information and dealing with an investigation. While sometimes businesses are in a legal “grey area” and there are reasonable grounds for a dispute about their obligations, more often than not, prosecutions occur where there has been clear and sustained non-compliance and non-cooperation.
For more information visit www.workplacestrategies.com.au ; Call Australian Workplace Strategies on 1300 011 111 or email aws@workplacestrategies.com.au