News

Changes to unfair dismissal - small business alert

Towards the end of the year the Government's next wave of workforce reforms will start to roll into place and small business owners should be on alert now.

Indeed they should prepare themselves for the impact sooner rather than later.

Why? Current legislation protects employers with less than 100 employees from unfair dismissal claims however the proposed changes suggest that very soon this protection will only cover businesses with 15 or less employees.

That means that when the changes occur small businesses with more than 15 staff will have to abide by the unfair dismissal laws and all indications suggest that business owners will be required to follow a Fair Dismissal Code which will include a series of new obligations they must meet.
Note: micro businesses with less than 15 employees shouldn’t breathe too great a sigh of relief as all indications suggest the government will only offer a twelve month exemption period for new employees in these smaller businesses. Six months for businesses greater than 15.

Time for a spring clean

1. Do they have written employment contracts and are they well drafted?
2. Do these contracts comply with current legislation?
3. Are their employment contracts up to date? If an employee’s role or duties change (including promotions) a new contract should be entered into – as contracts go stale.
4. Do they have workplace policies and do these policies make it clear that if and when serious misconduct occurs it will result in dismissal?

And finally be prepared….

In deciding whether the dismissal is unfair the newly formed body Fair Work Australia (set to be in place from 2010) will have the power to ask questions of all parties involved in a dispute and will seek their views. All indications suggest it will be a far less formal process than the current process in place with the AIRC.

Please contact Rob Douglass for further information.