Managing Staff in Small Business – Lesson Five BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

MANAGING STAFF IN SMALL BUSINESS RECRUITMENT, SELECTION, EMPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS, LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYING STAFF

Outline Unfair dismissal Small Business Fair Dismissal Code Occupational Health & Safety Discussion Questions Termination of Staff Definitions

 Unfair dismissal – terminate an employee in a harsh, unjust or unreasonable way.  Unlawful dismissal – terminate an employee for a ‘prohibited reason’  Reasons include:  Absence due to injury or illness  Union membership  Race, colour  Martial status  Disability  Pregnancy  Political opinion  Religious belief LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYING STAFF

Terminate an employee without the required ‘minimum notice’ period. Length of period ranges from one to five weeks, depending on length of service and age of employee.- Illegal These conditions applied under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 Unlawful dismissal

Workplace Relations The amendment in 2001 of Workplace Relations Amendment (Termination of Employment) Act saw small businesses with less than 100 employees exempt from the unfair dismissal laws but not the unlawful ones. The new Fair Work Act 2009 will see this unfair dismissal exemption for small businesses reduced from 100 employees to fifteen employees.

Workplace Relations – Fair Work Act From 1 July 2009 the employee will be able to claim unfair dismissal if the business employs: less than 15 staff (full-time equivalent staff, excluding irregular casuals), and the employee has worked there for 12 months or more 15 or more staff (full-time equivalent staff, excluding irregular casuals), and the employee has worked there for six months or more

 The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) can order remedies on behalf of the employee when cases of unfair dismissal have been proven:  Reinstatement to the same position or another position no less favourable than the one last held by the employee  Remuneration in lieu of reinstatement. This will only be awarded when reinstatement is impracticable  Reinstatement and compensation for lost income  Information on Fair Work Act can be found on AIRC

Small Business Fair Dismissal Form You are a owner of a small business and you need to terminate a employee. Create the situation of why the employee has to be terminated and fill out the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code document via the link below: Small Business Fair Dismissal Code.docx Any information on unfair dismissal or to view the document go to: employment/Pages/Small-Business-Fair-Dismissal- code.aspx?role=employeeshttp:// employment/Pages/Small-Business-Fair-Dismissal- code.aspx?role=employees

Small Business Fair Dismissal Form Once completed go on to Occupational Health & Safety View the next couple of slides and then go to Click on the link information for Small business owners Identify and fix safety issues

OH&S Discuss ways a small business can find hazards and what are the legal requirements Discuss ways that a small business can fix the problems and one avenue that they can use to help them fix the problems.

All employers whether big or small business have legal obligation to ensure working environment is safe and without risks to health. Requirement covers workers, customers, visitors, and members of general public Victorian WorkCover Authority is manager of Victoria’s workplace safety system OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

 Responsibilities:  Help avoid workplace injuries  Enforce Victoria’s occupational health and safety laws  Provide reasonable priced insurance for employers  Help injured workers back into the workforce  Manage the workers’ compensation scheme by ensuring the prompt delivery of appropriate services and adopting prudent financial practices.  Information of WorkCover can be found on OH&S

Voluntary: Resignation Retirement Involuntary: Retrenchment (redundancy) Dismissal – summary dismissal, due process TERMINATION OF STAFF

Give a definition in your own words of the following: Resignation Retirement Retrenchment (redundancy) Summary Dismissal Due process dismissal

Reminder Once you have completed all the tasks Submit to me via Review the previous lessons because Next lesson - SAC