Turmoil for Small Business

[press release]

The new Fair Work Act provides for significant changes to the regulation of industrial relations and enterprise agreements across all industries.
Whereas most small businesses have operated with considerable flexibility in the past few years, this is severely threatened by a number of arrangements which are due to commence from 1 January 2010.
There are 2 major areas of concern: a new set of National Employment Standards and an award modernisation process.
‘Most of the focus to-date has been on the Standards,’ claims Ron Jones, owner of createHR a specialist consultancy dealing with small to medium size businesses.
‘However, the biggest challenge for a number of small enterprises is the award modernisation process.’
‘Small businesses have not had to worry about awards for some time, but what is now being implemented is a much broader coverage – employees and businesses which have never been subject to the award system will now find they have to conform.’
‘Awards have traditionally been the safety net of employment conditions and the new process really extends their coverage to a much wider area. In fact the Commission responsible for setting out new awards has now adopted a ‘Miscellaneous Award’ for employees and businesses not covered by any other award.’
‘Unless small business acts now to establish their own agreements, they will find that from 1 January next year they are going to have to pay overtime, weekend and penalty rates according to the award provision. This may not suit them and could reduce their flexibility and capacity to survive in an economy which is just starting to emerge from crisis.’
createHR is calling for the award process to be delayed by at least 6 months to give small business an opportunity to fully comprehend the magnitude of changes taking place.

Fair Work - Coming Ready or Not

ARE YOU READY?
A new set of rules for the workplace will soon be in place through the Federal Government’s Fair Work legislation.
How prepared are you for these changes?
Contact ron.jones@createhr.com.au for confidential advice about your business requirements.
Specialising in advisory and consultancy services for small and medium size business

FAIR WORK - IMPACT ON HR

There is no doubt that the new Act will have a significant impact on the way in which HR functions are performed.
Many organizations have not developed a capacity to deal with unions or undertake bargaining during the era of WorkChoices. Skill levels and expertise within HR departments have been developed across a number of other areas, but not within the critical area of industrial bargaining.
Organisations will need to re-assess their risk profile to identify where they are likely to be vulnerable to increased attention from unions. Given the restructuring that has been prevalent in many companies, evidence of low morale and low commitment will provide a potential environment for unions seeking to use the Fair Work Act as a spring-board for membership campaigns and access to the bargaining process.
Many organizations will require improved skill levels within their HR function to ensure they are able to respond effectively to the issues generated by the Fair Work provisions.

createHR is a specialist service providing strong management skills development in all areas of bargaining and negotiation.

I am currently working with a number of organisations to assist them in the transition to meeting the requirements of the new act.

Contact me now for advice on how I can help you.

Ron Jones

Bargaining Skills

The new Fair Work legislation in Australia will result in significant changes across the industrial relations landscape.



In addition to the establishment of 10 employment standards that establish a minimum set of conditions for the majority of workplaces, there is a key focus around the concept of 'good faith bargaining'.



In essence, good faith bargaining is about the preparedness of employers and their employees, together with employee representatives where nominated, to engage in collective bargaining.



For many organisations this is not something that has had to be done for some years. The previous government's Work Choices provisions set out different rules, many of which have now been taken over by the Fair Work Act.



The requirement to engage in good faith bargaining will mean that many companies will need to build the skills of their HR departments and line managers. Middle and senior management will be particulalry impacted as many of the outcomes of new agreements will be subject ot control at these layers of management.



Acquiring skills and competencies in all aspects of workplace bargaining and negotiation will be critical in this new environment.



Already middle management is facing a crisis of skills development as a result of the impact of restructuring and the need to be more accountable for bottom line outcomes. The pressures of the Fair Work changes will add to the complexity of the role.



The establishment of the Centre for Fair Work Bargaining is designed to address the skills and competency development needs of managers in the industrial relations environment.



For further details contact ron.jones@createhr.com.au