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The Fair Work Ombudsman has named its focus for the next financial year. With a promise of a stronger approach to enforcement and more resources, the Ombudsman will be looking more closely at a number of industries and issues. It might be time to get a HR review. These are:

• Fast food, restaurants and cafes
• Horticulture and the harvest trail
• Supply chain risks
• Franchisors; and
• Sham contracting.

Not surprisingly, the Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker, recently highlighted that vulnerable workers will continue to be a priority for the agency. She went on to outline that the Ombudsman will use its full powers to publicly name employers who have broken the law in terms of pay and entitlements  and added that employers doing the wrong thing will get caught.

Ms Parker gave a strong warning to employers, stating “So if you are in one of our priority industries, operate a franchise system or employ large numbers of migrant workers, you should expect to hear from us”. Expect that this is additional to the other tip-offs the Ombudsman receives throughout the year.

Industryus HR recommend that any business which operates in the fast food, restaurant or cafe industry, the horticultural industry, businesses supplying labour for hire, franchise businesses and any business hiring contractors should have a HR review completed. This review should focus on pay and contracts being audited and corrected where errors are found.

If you need assistance with a HR review, Industryus HR offers a free consultation so that you can understand what is involved. For more information call us on 07 5655 4047 or send us a message here.

Fact. 

67% of employees sometimes or often feel burnt out while at work. If knowledge is power, this is a helpful (yet confronting) piece of information for your leadership to consider.

Sufferers of burnout often describe feeling exhausted and disconnected. They often report feeling emotionally fatigued with a loss of empathy towards clients, and feeling incompetent and inept at work (The Black Dog Institute).

Burnout can be caused from a number of factors. A recent survey by BambooHR reveals there are currently three circumstances which contribute to employees feeling burnt out the most.

The first is unfair treatment in the workplace.  Employees who report that they are often treated unfairly by their leadership at work are 2 times more likely to experience burnout. As inequitable workplaces are often unhealthy environments to spend time in, this poor culture typically results in underperformance.

The second factor is an unmanageable workload. Employees who don’t have enough working hours to complete their work in begin to burn out quickly. As the employee struggles to keep up,  it often leads to damaged confidence and acts as a demotivator for higher performance.

Lastly, unclear roles can lead to burnout. Bamboo HR found that 40% of employees don’t know what is expected of them at work. There are a wide range of work situations which can create such role confusion. For example, often when an employee begins  a new job there is a period of settling in. If the role responsibilities are not made clear at the start it can lead to greater confusion than necessary, a lengthier training period and/or turnover. Lack of role clarity can also lead to tension and conflict between team members. This particularly occurs where two team members are under the assumption that a particular responsibility is their own.

What can your leadership do to reduce burnout?

Leadership roles can take active steps to improve performance while preventing employee burnout. We all feel worn out at times but employees who feel supported by their managers are much less likely to regularly burnout compared to those who don’t feel supported by their managers. Therefore leading with a strong heart and fair hand is the key.

Similarly, employees who feel they often or always have enough time to do their work are much less likely to experience burnout. It’s important to point out that it’s not about setting the performance bar lower for your workplace to avoid burnout situations. It is about hitting a nice balance between performance goals and the ability to achieve them.  Realistic timelines result in employees producing a much higher quality of performance.

Communicating with employees about performance expectations on a regular basis so that they understand and can own their performance results can result in higher performance and more satisfaction. In fact, employees who believe their performance metrics are within their own control are about half less likely to experience burnout.

In summary, leaders who offer fair and supportive workplaces with clear direction are more likely to create teams which are healthy in the longer term and engaged. Industryus HR offer practical leadership workshop sessions on a number of key topics, delivered classroom style. For more information about our practical workshops click here, or call 07 5655 4047.

Recently we have had a number of human resources enquiries from employers about obtaining independent contractor agreements. Sometimes, upon learning more about the specific work relationship, the worker in question most likely should be an employee and the employer is actually at risk of what is termed Sham Contracting under the Fair Work Act 2009.

Sham contracting occurs when an employer deliberately disguises an employee/employer relationship as an independent contracting arrangement. This generally occurs in situations when a business needs work to be done by someone, but it doesn’t want the responsibility of paying for employee entitlements such as annual leave, workers’ compensation and superannuation.

Quite often employers we speak to confirm that the reason the worker has been engaged as an independent contractor is due to it being more cost effective to do so. Their thinking is that if they can avoid paying entitlements to the worker, employing someone becomes more affordable. The problem with this scenario is that the choice to save a few bucks could very easily result in fines that are substantial in comparison to the money saved. Plus, there is generally the requirement to pay back to the employee the entitlements such as annual leave and superannuation that have not been issued.

We recommend all employers review any independent contractor arrangements to ensure they are not creating a risk. There are a number of common factors that should be considered when determining who is an independent contractor and who is an employee. Some of these include the degree of control the worker has over the work performed, who controls the hours of work, whether anyone else can do the work, how the worker is engaged for the work, and who provides the tools and equipment for the work. The relationship should be looked at holistically rather than considering only one of the elements and it is always a good idea to have this review conducted by a professional.

In summary, it’s important to highlight that employees cannot be independent contractors simply by calling them such in a contract – careful consideration must be given to what is the true nature of the relationship. A very well-known quote by Justice Gray from the 1989 case Re Porter: Ex Parte TWU (1989) 34 IR 179 sums up this fact well and inspiration for our lead blog picture:

“Parties cannot create something which has every feature of a rooster, but call it a duck and insist that everybody else recognise it as a duck”.

If your company uses independent contractors and you are concerned, we offer a free initial consultation for employers. Call us on 07 5655 4047 or book online here.

As Gold Coast based human resources specialists, we have read a lot in the literature about how Millennials work and communicate as employees. From being disloyal and coddled at home, to expecting to climb the corporate ladder with incredible speed and minimal effort; theories on millennials in the workplace have been well documented and somewhat harsh. While some of these beliefs have proven to be true, the negativity placed on Millennials (roughly born from the early ’80s to mid-’90s) seems to have been largely unfounded. In reality, many employers have reported that where workplace flexibility is supported for a new recruit, Millennials can thrive and are willing to work just as hard as any other generation. Nevertheless, just as we are starting to understand how to get the best from Millennials, there is a new generation hitting the work scene that we need to get acquainted with.

Meet Gen Z, or more affectionately “iGen”. This generation is our most recent school leavers. Born between the late ’90s and early 2010s, there are interestingly some distinct differences between this generation and the Millennials before them.

Jean M. Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University provides an excellent insight into iGen. Below are some of the differences compared to Millennials she points out which will help employers recruit and manage this new workforce more successfully.

• iGen is more focussed on work. They are more willing to work overtime to get the job done and make work a central part of their lives. Having experienced the recession as children this generation likely realises they are going to have to work hard to make money.
• They grew up more slowly as teens. They have taken longer to work, drive, and date than previous generations, no doubt due to the influence of the internet and social media. Due to these trends, more young people now arrive in the workplace with less experience and less independent decision-making. Twenge recommends giving iGen careful instructions for tasks and warns they will likely need more guidance than previous generations.
• iGen has lower self-confidence than Millennials at the same age. While Millennials might have expected to be CEO of the company within 5 years or felt entitled to promotion, iGen are less optimistic about their career prospects and are also less likely to consider entrepreneurship, preferring stability over risk-taking.
• A standout for this generation is that it socialises differently to Gen Y and Gen X before them. They prefer to use their phones instead of getting together in person, and this directly impacts their desire to make friends or be in contact with a lot of people in the workplace. Therefore, employers may find that the social aspects of work such as outings and social clubs will hold less appeal in the coming years.

Understanding the drivers of the newest workforce generation will assist your organisation to be able to recruit the younger generations better and understand what they can bring as individuals. Tapping into the unique talents this generation will bring to the table is a no brainer, as iGen are also our next generation of consumers.

We are a Gold Coast based Human Resources provider specialising in advice, compliance and effectiveness.  If you are looking for Gold Coast based Human Resources support, don’t hesitate to get on touch on 07 5655 4047. We offer a free Introductory Call.

A tailored Human Resources Consultant solution for SMEs

Hi, I am Shelly Baker, the Founder of Industryus HR. I haven’t always run my own company. In fact, my experience lies in private enterprise where I worked for many years in Human Resources and Industrial Relations roles for well-known brands such as RACQ, Accor and Mantra.  Working at the executive level enabled me to gain significant experience with complex employment relations matters and HR initiatives. At that time, I had regularly thought to myself how amazing it would be to apply all I have learnt and experienced to smaller organisations to help them be more effective. In fact, the ideology that suggests running a smaller business like a bigger business to become one is completely relevant to human resources. In 2016 I left the corporate world and formed Industryus HR. I am firmly invested in ensuring Industryus provides the market with a Human Resources Consultant solution for established SMEs that is a bit different. A solution that is affordable and based on what the client actually needs.  A solution which offers truly experienced consultants with big business expertise. And a solution that is personal and tailored, and where a true partnering relationship can prosper. From behalf of the Industryus team, we look forward to working with you.

A credible, experienced HR team

Industryus HR is a specialist human resources agency, providing human resources support to established organisations which are looking for true HR experts to manage their employment relations.

‘Just ordinary’ HR is not our thing. Our talented HR specialists have partnered with successful brands and managed impressive human resources strategic initiatives across many Australian organisations. You can be assured that your human resources obligations are in the right hands.

Book a Free Introductory Call with a Human Resources Consultant here.

Is reference checking for your recruitment campaign a waste of time?

I have recently had a number of clients ask this question in regard to recruitment campaign management for new talent. It’s usually followed by a statement such as “surely candidates are always going to provide a referee who will only say good things about them”.

Seems logical I guess. It’s true that candidates are unlikely to provide a referee that they think will say horrible things about them… but it’s a little bit more complex than that. Having been responsible throughout my human resources career for providing recruitment services across many roles and industries, my opinion on this topic has been developed by real life experience.  Let me tell you, I always reference check, thoroughly.

In this blog post I will address the notion that candidates will always provide referees who will only say good things about them. I’ll also provide you with some tips on how to get the most out of reference checking.

In my experience there are two main reasons why candidates don’t always provide referees who will only say good things about them. Firstly, many candidates may have a misguided view of what their leader thought about their performance. Sometimes this may be a result of the candidate’s performance results not being properly communicated to them. Other times it may be because they simply lack self-awareness or refuse to accept their own development areas. Therefore, in many instances a candidate may genuinely be expecting their referee to provide an A+ reference because they feel they have been an A+ performer. The reality is though that most referees are willing to talk frankly or at the very least provide some cues as to the candidate’s true performance. Secondly, I find that the majority of management level referees are professionals who value honesty and integrity over doing a favour for someone during a reference check. This is particularly true for those that had a true manager to employee reporting relationship with the candidate. Hence, a valid referee is likely to take the reference check seriously and reveal valuable insights into the person’s previous performance and conduct.

Here are some questions to ask yourself during the reference check stage of your next recruitment drive:

Recruitment Campaign Question 1: Who are the referees?

Previous performance is likely to give you a view of future performance. To check someone’s previous performance it is important to speak with the person who was completely across it. That is, the candidate’s current or former manager or in some cases the next level up manager. Colleagues, clients, and other stakeholders may not have been aware of any performance gaps the manager  experienced with their employee. Remember, you plan to be the candidate’s manager too, so a manager’s view is most relevant.

Where the candidate has not listed any current or former managers, it’s ok to politely question why this is and request them to produce different referees. Recruitment screening is essentially a step by step process to reduce the risk of hiring someone unsuitable. Therefore, where a candidate is unwilling or cannot provide the correct type of referee, the risk of you regretting a hiring decision increases.

Clients and stakeholders may be able to provide some valuable insights into attributes such as customer service, responsiveness and rapport but these types of referees are best used to complement the references of former reporting managers.

Recruitment Campaign Question 2: How did the referee behave over the phone?

All reference checks should involve a number of specific questions about the candidate’s previous role, skillset, performance and behaviours. Seasoned recruitment services professionals listen to the cues in the referee’s answers (whether they were meant to be heard or not!) and probe anything that might give specific insights into a candidate’s real performance. Be cautious of reference checks where the referee:

• starts to answer and then hesitates, as if they are retracting something they were going to say;
• takes long pauses before answering, as if they are being overly careful with their words;
• only makes positive high-level comments about the candidate but doesn’t provide any detail or real-life examples;
• seems to use non-language responses such as deep sighing or “hmmm” when they are thinking as opposed to readily providing positive feedback. Or they use non-committal language such as “I guess so” or “she’s pretty good” when you ask them a question about a specific aspect of performance.

If you receive any negative vibes about certain topics, explore them further until you are satisfied that you understand the pain points.

Recruitment Campaign Question 3: How consistent are the responses across all referees?

If you check 2-3 references and they all have a slightly different slant on how the candidate performed, there may be a problem. The best talent will have their leaders singing to the same tune about them creating a solid consistency amongst the references.

Standout themes will also appear in relation to 2-3 specific skillsets. For example, one referee may briefly mention how the candidate was a key office ‘go to’ person due to their in depth understanding of Excel. Another referee may provide an example of a project they participated in where their Excel prowess contributed to the success of the project. We all have our strongpoints and a referee should be aware of these, and naturally lean towards the ones that are most dominant. Quite simply, if all referees are confirming the same specifics, then what they are saying is more likely to be true.

Is checking references a waste of time? I think not. When they are done well they can be a valuable addition to the other screening steps of the talent acquisition process.  Just like you shouldn’t hire someone purely from glancing at their resume, you also shouldn’t hire someone purely based on their references. Therefore, we recommend in order to get the best results, always take the time and effort to conduct a thorough screening process. If you require assistance with your next hire, contact an expert recruitment services provider such as Industryus HR.

Shelly Baker is the founder of Industryus HR, a HR consulting firm which works with SMEs throughout Australia to improve employee productivity and performance through strategic human resources and recruitment services. Shelly has worked in a number of senior HR roles, including having recruited from entry level to executive level roles across various industries in the private sector.  If you would like to explore other options than a recruitment agency, make an enquiry today about Industryus HR’s recruitment services by calling 07 5655 4047 or sending us a message here. 

Q: I no longer need one of my team members. What do I have to pay in the case of a redundancy?

A: Information relating to employer redundancy obligations starts at Section 117 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

Basically, employers must provide an employee whose position is being made redundant notice of the termination along with a redundancy payment.

Notice of termination is outlined in the table in Section 117 (3) (a) of the Act and ranges from one week to four weeks dependent on the employee’s length of continuous service. Remember to add an additional one week for any employee who is over 45 years of age and who has been employed continuously for at least two years at the time the notice is given.

The minimum redundancy payment is outlined in Section 119 (2) of the Act and ranges from zero weeks to 16 weeks dependent on the employee’s length of continuous service and the size of the organisation.

Note, if your employees are covered by an industrial instrument other than the Fair Work Act 2009, such as an Enterprise Agreement, you will need to refer to that document for correct entitlements. Also, where the individual’s employment agreement states an entitlement over the minimum standard, you will need to ensure they receive the higher amount.

Redundancy processes can be very complex and if executed poorly (or unlawfully), they can have negative consequences. Industryus HR strongly advises employers seek external advice from a HR professional prior to carrying out redundancies. Call us on 07 5655 4047 or click here if you require assistance.