The Latest from Kristy-Lee

At the time of writing this article, the Fair Work Commission has recently handed down its decision following the Annual Minimum Wage Review process. The process involves the Commission reviewing submissions from various interested parties, including employer and employee representative groups, as well as analysing data relating to wages, such as changes to cost of living and alike.

What is The Annual Minimum Wage Review

Essentially, they are looking to ensure that the minimum wages set out in the Fair Work Act, including the National Minimum Wage, as well as al Award minimum rates of pay, is set at an appropriate level for our current economic conditions.

What Else is Changing

In addition to the National Minimum Wage and Award Rate changes, we are in the midst of a raft of changes to Industrial Relations legislation, which applies to not only wages, but various other aspects of the employment relationship.

Keeping up with compliance obligations is one of the key pain points...

Hello and welcome to Episode 224 of the People Powered Business Podcast.

Today I am bringing you an end of financial year compliance wrap up.

This time of year is always an important time for finance people, it’s often less of an issue for our HR matters. But not this year!

The absolute flux of change that’s happening right now in regards to compliance obligations is unprecedented and Fair Work have made it clear that not knowing is not an excuse to fail to comply with your obligations as an employer.

So today we look at the key changes that have occurred in the last 12 months, the current important changes and what’s on the horizon when it comes to more changes in the next 12 months.

If you’d like to connect with other businesses who are also juggling the challenges of teams, I’d love you to join us inside our free Facebook Group, HR Support for Australian Businesses, so I can learn more about what’s working for you and any challenges you might be having. Join Here - https://w...

In the ultra-connected ‘always contactable’ world, the lines between work and personal time have been becoming increasingly blurred, and for some maintaining a healthy work-life balance has become increasingly challenging.

The constant accessibility and expectation to be available outside of work hours can take a toll on employees' well-being and personal lives. However, a new legislation called “The Right to Disconnect” aims to address this issue by granting employees the right to disconnect from work-related communications outside of their designated work hours.

Understanding the Right to Disconnect

The Right to Disconnect legislation is designed to protect employees from unreasonable out-of-hours contact from employers, suppliers, contractors, and customers.

It does not prohibit employers from sending emails or messages outside of work hours, but it grants employees the right not to read or respond to them.

This legislation acknowledges the importance of work-life b...

Hello and welcome to Episode 223 of the People Powered Business Podcast.

Today we are answering another listeners question, this one coming in from Kirsty and her question is about determining how to ensure you are paying correctly in accordance with the award, and what to do if employment falls across more than one award.

To help answer this, I unpack how to determine the correct Award, and Award Classification for an employee based on your industry and their occupation.

We then look at what to do if more than one Award applies, and finally I share my favourite ways to ensure the correct pay rates are applied.

If you’d like to connect with other businesses who are also juggling the challenges of teams, I’d love you to join us inside our free Facebook Group, HR Support for Australian Businesses, so I can learn more about what’s working for you and any challenges you might be having. Join Here - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hrsupportaustralia

Hello and welcome to Episode 122 of the People Powered Business Podcast.

This week we have a brief but important technical update for you after the Fair Work Commission announced its decision around the National Minimum Wage increase effective 1 July.

This year we have a 3.75% wage increase being applied to the National Minimum Wage and all Modern Award Minimum Wages effective 1 July 2024.

But really, in the scheme of the changes happening in the Industrial Relations legal landscape right now, that’s just the beginning.

We have yet another increase to Superannuation on the 1st July 2024, there are going to be changes to the casual employment definition and a new pathway for casual conversion coming. We of course are about to see the Right to Disconnect laws come into place, which we’ve discussed on a separate episode. There is going to be clarity on the employee v’s contractor conundrum, new protections for gig economy workers and more.

The reality is, as an employer it is our res...

Hello and welcome to Episode 221 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today I am delighted to be joined by guest expert Nicole Turnbull from Neon Shed.

Nicole is the Founder and Chief Courage Officer at Neon Shed, which brings light to the dark sides of work.

She works with businesses to eliminate psychosocial hazards at work and ignite courage in leaders and teams by giving them the tools and options to know HOW to have a safe workplace.

Nicole has over 20 years experience in communications and 15 in the work health and safety industry. She has worked for both NSW safety regulators, the workers compensation insurer and the workers compensation independent review office. Nicole has seen the damage poor communication and psychosocial hazards can do to individuals, teams and organisations.

Nicole is also the Winner of the 2023 Influential Businesswomen Awards for Most Empowering Founder (Australia) and the host of the Under the Rug at Work podcast.

If you’d like to connect with ...

Positive Duty Laws under the Sex Discrimination Act

The Positive Duty guidelines from the Australian Human Rights Commission have been developed to help organisations and businesses eliminate unlawful behaviour as much as possible in their workplaces.

In late 2022, the Respect Work Act was passed into law, marking a significant legislative change in Australia's industrial relations landscape. As part of this comprehensive legislation, a new legal framework was introduced, referred to as 'positive duty.'

This framework places an onus on employers to take reasonable steps to eliminate sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination within their workplaces under the Sex Discrimination Act.

The fundamental shift is that it's no longer adequate for employers to react to complaints as they arise. Instead, they now have a proactive obligation to implement measures that prevent these issues from happening in the first place.   

So, what are the Positive Duty laws?

This legal shift has far...

Hello and welcome to Episode 220 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today we’re talking Employment Agreements or Employment Contracts - the all important document that sets out the terms and conditions of the employment relationship.

Why? Well simple, it’s the most popular question I get asked about that continues to daunt and baffle business owners who desperately want to get these documents right.

In this episode we discuss what employment contracts are and why they are so important, and why you absolutely want to have them in place, but we also unpacked what should be included, and what you want to leave out.

An Invitation

Would you like to connect with other like-minded business owners, leaders and managers experiencing similar situations with their team? Join the discussion inside our free Facebook Group – HR Support for Australian -Businesses - https://www.facebook.com/groups/hrsupportaustralia

Understanding the Legislation as a Small Business

For many business owners who find themselves hiring staff and building a team, being compliant and doing things ‘right’ can be of real concern. It can feel overwhelming and like an extra layer of complexity you hadn’t considered when setting out on your business journey.

Understanding the entire ecosystem that is the industrial relations framework in Australia might really assist in demystifying and simplifying the complex legislative environment that underpins the employment relationship.

The Fair Work Act

At the highest level the key piece of legislation is called The Fair Work Act 2009, and this is the core which underpins the employer / employee relationship within Australia. The Fair Work Act, often referred to as simply The Act covers almost all employees around Australia.

In some States and Territories certain employees, such as Local and State Government Employees are not covered by the Act.

Additionally, in very select c...

Hello and welcome to Episode 219 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today we are answering a listeners question “does a resignation need to be in writing?”.

To answer this question we are going to look at how an employee can resign, and what a resignation doesn’t look like. We discuss what to do if the employee won’t put the resignation in writing, and I share my strategies for managing resignations when they arise.

Do you have a question for a future episode of the podcast? Simply email your question to [email protected]  or join our Facebook Group and ask your questions there.

An Invitation

Would you like to connect with other like-minded business owners, leaders and managers experiencing similar situations with their team? Join the discussion inside our free Facebook Group – HR Support for Australian -Businesses.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/hrsupportaustralia