A few of our clients are small businesses with around twelve staff - for one of them, what should have been a simple situation regarding annual leave became a frustrating series of poor behaviour that culminated in a tough decision being made once they received the advice from HR Staff n' Stuff as their in house HR consultants. 

​The story commences with the appointment of a new senior person in their business. The new employee informed the business owner that they had a pre-planned holiday booked for two weeks within the first few months of starting.  Although the new employee wasn’t entitled to leave, the business owner agreed to honour this time off - it was a reasonable request and can quiet often crop up when new team members commence.  But some will always try to push the envelope....

What kind of Manager are you? 
Are you a Micro-manager who rules with an iron fist, hoards all the power and controls decisions? 

Or are you a Delegator who shares the duties and is more consultative than dictatorial, relinquishes power, and shares responsibility?

To be a great leader, you have to learn how to delegate well.  We have 5 tips on how to become a better delegator and improve your leadership qualities.

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July 1, 2019 marks the start of a new financial year and with it comes changes to minimum wages as set out in the Modern Awards as determined by the Fair Work Commission.   Since 2017, there have also been changes to penalty rates that have significant implications for employers so let’s take a look at them.

It’s the middle of winter and for many the thought of a tropical island holiday is the only thing that keeps them getting out of bed on these chilly and bleak mornings.   We know that all full-time employees receive four weeks annual leave per year with part time employees receiving the pro-rated equivalent.  Now Virgin, Netflix and Melbourne-based Inventium have all upped the ante and now offer unlimited annual leave – should you?

​Millennials.  It’s a word that strikes terror into the heart of many employers! But this demographic will form 75% of the workforce by 2025 so its vital businesses know how best to harness the skills and talent of this group. 

​Millennials are a complex creature so let’s take a look at a few areas you can consider in your business that will help engage and retain the talent that will drive the best results for your business. 

​Sham Contracting – is it really a big issue?  The Federal Government recently announced that the Fair Work Ombudsman will receive $2.3 million each year for the next four years to establish a unit dedicated to addressing the problem so yes, it is considered a major problem.  But what is sham contracting and how do you make sure your business isn’t involved in it?

The Fair Work Commission has handed down it’s decision last week with a 3% increase to the National Minimum Wage, together with all Modern Award minimum rates of pay.  While the ACTU was calling for a $43.15 a week increase, a 3% increase delivers a $21.60 pay rise to Australian Workers.  

As an employer, you now have some jobs to complete to be in line with these changes.

On July 5 2017, the Fair Work Commission delivered a landmark decision as part of its four-yearly review of Modern Awards which will allow casuals to convert to permanent full time or part time work after being employed for 12 months.

These provisions are not completely new – they have been evident within some awards such as those within the Building and Construction industries for some time.  However, the decision to include a casual conversion clause will impact an additional 85 modern awards with commentators suggesting that the retail and hospitality sectors will be most affected.

But what does this all really mean?

​It’s getting cold out there and the natural desire is to don the warmest clothes you have before stepping out the front door and heading off to work.  But what do these clothes look like and what do they say about you as a business leader?  How do they position your business and you as an industry leader?  If you are the best in your field, what difference does it make how you dress?

Well actually, it can make a massive difference and it’s all decided within two seconds!

Most workforces are comprised of adults and as such, we should be able to assume that they will conduct themselves in a manner befitting grown-ups.  Right?  Nope, not right.  Unfortunately, you will always find that there are those who are willing and able to push boundaries, behave inappropriately and potentially endanger themselves or their colleagues.  Sometimes it’s deliberate and damaging and sometimes it is a lack of understanding or naivete that causes the problems.  

As a business leader, you need to be on the front foot with protecting your employees and your business from unacceptable behaviour.  But how?

We usually discuss adverse action cases whereby an employer has wronged, or been accused of wronging, an employee.  But a recent case lodged by the Australian Building and Construction Commission demonstrates how prospective employees are also protected by the same laws and the penalties for offending employers can be pretty steep!


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To state the obvious, discrimination within the workplace is unlawful – the Fair Work Act is where this law is enshrined.  But what is included and what constitutes an adverse action in relation to discrimination?.  

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​As a business owner or leader, I bet you are constantly thinking of and planning ways to continuously improve your business?  Well of course, that’s what a great business thinker should be doing but it doesn’t always have to involve grand, long term plans that involve huge capital expenditure.  Improving your business can be as easy as finding small improvements every day. 

Sally is sick. Really sick.  Sally can’t come to work and has now run out of sick leave entitlements.  Sally doesn’t know when she’ll be back at work, so you’re scratching your head wondering ‘what do I do now’?  Sally is one of your customer service team who are drastically under the pump now with a key employee missing from their team…. Sally calls to say that she has to have surgery.  Sally now has complications with her surgery and won’t be back at work for the foreseeable future….. Sally is really sorry.


We hear you screaming from here! It’s frustrating and really hard to keep your business operating at optimal      levels.  Customer service levels are being impacted and the rest of the team are feeling overworked…  To get a temp up to speed will take time and money which will be a lost investment when they are no longer needed.  Sally is still employed so you can’t just replace her.  Or can you?

One fine Tuesday morning, George doesn’t show up for work.  There’s no phone call, email or text message to advise he won’t be in so by 10:30 am, you try contacting him.  There’s no answer so you leave a message.  You also try calling his next of kin as advised on his HR file but they don’t respond either.  Further attempts are made over the course of the next three days to contact George but you still don’t know where he is or if he is coming back.  You have a business to run and you need people to either show up for their rostered hours or advise that they need to utilise some of their personal leave.  So what can you do?

​An employee has just approached you with a request to ‘cash out’ a portion of their annual leave.  Roger doesn’t want to take the time off – he just wants the cold, hard cash in this instance.  He’s got seven weeks up his sleeve and he’s requested to cash in one week of his accrued annual leave.  Do you want to agree to this request and are you obligated to sign off on Roger’s request?

It’s a fact, staff turnover costs your business financially and the recruitment process can be an additional load that you simply don’t need.  There are trackable expenses such as recruitment and advertising but there are many intangible costs that are not so easy to determine.  Lost productivity is an obvious one but it isn’t just limited to lost output when a role is not back-filled before your incumbent departs – it’s also the efficiency of a new employee who won’t be as quick as the experienced team member they replace.  And don’t forget the reallocation of time and attention that impacts you or your staff that are involved in the recruitment, onboarding and training a new team member.  And for some businesses, these costs are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to staff turnover.  

​There is no real way to avoid people leaving a company but working on your retention and looking after the people that help make your business a success, can help you reduce the number of departures and minimise these overheads whilst further enhancing a positive, engaged team with increased productivity as a result.  To that end, we have seven quick tips to help you build an employee retention strategy that delivers results.

​Email is both an essential communication tool and an absolute waste of time.  It’s a bold statement but you know I’m right.  Email can take you from sealing a major new deal that will take your business to the next level one minute, while the next you get caught in a to and fro exchange that interrupts you multiple times and causes focus, time and productivity to be lost.  It’s clear that the positives of email outweigh the negatives so the key is to take control of the tsunami of communications and not let email control you.  Simples!  

A case involving a fast food giant, a specific shift start time, a required arrival time, a sneaky cigarette, a ladder, a broken leg and an overturned WorkCover claim all came together recently in a Queensland court with a decision that may have far reaching implications for businesses throughout Australia.  How is this even possible you wonder….

​Your preferred candidate has accepted the job and the start date has been agreed.  Awesome.  He’ll rock up in a week and you can pop him in Kevin’s old cubicle, and a new era begins you think to yourself as you move on to the next job on your to do list.  

If this is what it looks like when you have a new recruit, then you have just set your new gun hire up for failure.  But I hired someone smart and experienced I hear you cry.  Surely they can just get in there and get stuff done.  Well yes, they most likely will jump in if they are as good as you think, but we’ve got some tips that will help you transition them into your business and provide an excellent base for success. After all, you’ve put some real effort into finding the right person – you must want it to work out long term!

​Melbourne is notorious for delighting the population with all four seasons within the space of a few hours, so we know to take a sunhat and a raincoat whenever we leave the house.  But as summer slowly comes to an end and autumn starts showing herself, much of Australia’s outdoor based workforce will experience the same erratic weather patterns.  So it’s timely to have a look at the laws about working in storms and heat…..

As a business owner or leader, you will experience unwanted stress at one time or another.  The key to managing stressful periods is to have strategies and supports in place that will help you get through it whilst maintaining your sanity!  At HR Staff n’ Stuff we see the damage stress has on businesses as we are often called in to assist with very challenging situations and we can and will help.  But we also recommend a little self-help that only takes 2 minutes.  Want to know more?  Well, read on…..

​​So, how are those new year resolutions going?   By mid- January, 80% of resolutions are already distant memories but we have a promise that we want you to make to yourself for 2019.  Work / life balance – don’t just talk about it, get some into your life and you are going to be thanking yourself.  
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Deborah Peppard - HR Director
Amie Graham - HR Advisor ​

​​Based on numbers alone chances are you will have an employee in your business living with mental illness at any one time.  Globally, mental illness is predicted to be the fastest growing and most significant non-communicable disease impacting on the economy, and higher income countries such as Australia are impacted the most.


​As a business owner it is your responsibility to ensure you are creating a mentally healthy workplace.   Not only to do the right thing by your people but as part of your business strategy so you remain competitive and successful, reduce absenteeism and maintain productivity levels.

​The hot weather is just around the corner and of course that can mean excessively hot work environments for some employees, especially those working onsite, in factories and in warehouses. Excessive heat has potential to cause a significant safety hazard in work places that can lead to symptoms such skin irritations, dizziness, dehydration, excessive sweating, heat stroke or, in the extreme, death. 


So how do you protect your employees while balancing the needs of your business?

​A positive change by business leaders is the recent focus on workplace culture, wellness and morale. If businesses are not ahead of the game, they risk losing valued and talented employees to a workplace with a higher morale or stronger culture.  With a tough talent market – good, great and especially exceptional employees are really hard to find.  High quality candidates have a lot of options and when they are tossing up which position to accept they are certainly more likely to choose a business that is known for its positive workplace culture and morale.  Not only do these businesses secure the best candidates, they are able to deliver long term and high levels of engagement and satisfaction throughout their employment – win-win for businesses and employees!  

So what's your workplace morale like and is it worth all the effort to make changes to boost it?