Following the Government's new Employment and Domestic Violence legislation our Employment Agreements have been updated accordingly and rolled out across all our product lines.
Members with an Employers Toolbox account will have already got the updates automatically, but if you run our Employment Contracts Creator software or use the standard Word templates you may wish to update yourselves.
If you manage your own Agreements the particular areas to focus on now are:
- Changes to assessment periods; 90 Day Trial vs Probationary Periods.
- Domestic Violence
- Rest & Meals breaks
- Shift cancellations
- Availability Periods
Some important points around the changes to note:
The implementation and enforcement of the 90 Day Trial has not changed, it's simply if your firm has more than 19 employees (full time/part time, fixed term or casual) you are not allowed to use it. Probationary periods are the alternative.
Domestic Violence is a statutory right for all employees (following 6 months' service). You don't actually have to include a particular clause in your agreements because you cannot contract out of the provision anyway. But including it can demonstrate your good faith and how up-to-date your agreements are. We recommend having a policy in place at a minimum.
Rest & Meal breaks should be defined and can no longer be compensated out of. We define them in the schedule of personal terms and give a few examples of suitable solutions.
Availability periods and cancellation compensation need careful consideration. We also have clauses and examples around this subject. The wizard feature in the Personal Term schedule helps you through these options also.