Dear Reader,
Recently, a lot of the feedback I’ve been receiving about the Workplace Bulletin has been saying the same thing – you want to see more solutions to common workplace problems!
So I thought today’s Bulletin would be a good chance for me to share the answers to some labour queries our subscribers have sent in.
I’ve tried to pick questions that tend to get asked often, so you may have even had the same problems yourself – but not known how to deal with them.
So without further ado, here are the questions and the answers our lawyers gave…
Question: We have an employee who is taking annual leave next week. They have requested to be paid in advance for it. Do we have to oblige the request? We are a national system employer.
Answer: No, an employee cannot insist to be paid in advance (unless they are entitled to do so under an award, collective agreement, company policy or contract etc). Having said this though, a lot of employers invite employees to specify whether they wish to be paid in advance just as a matter of discretion.
Question: We are currently trying to reduce our annual leave liability and find that we have a significant number of employees who have annual leave entitlements in excess of 12 weeks. Are we able to direct employees to take excess annual leave if we give them a reasonable time frame in which to do so?
Answer: Yes, subject to the provisions of any applicable modern award.
For example if clause 30.5 of the Clerks-Private Sector Award 2010 covers the employees in question, then you must give at least 4 weeks’ notice of a requirement to take annual leave.
Question: I have a question regarding the right to request flexible working arrangements. Are requests for flexible working arrangements only available to parents who are the primary carer of a child/children? Or can a parent whose spouse is already at home looking after a child still make a request?
Answer: No, in our view it would not be available to a parent whose spouse is already at home looking after a child. However, you will still need to analyse any request carefully to avoid a discrimination complaint.
Question: I have a number of employees who work from home on a regular basis. Am I still responsible for their health and safety?
Answer: Yes. You must provide information, instruction, training and supervision to your employees to enable them to work safely, wherever they work. Furthermore, if you instruct an employee to do their work at home, you are obliged to do anything reasonably possible to eliminate or reduce any safety risks that may arise from doing that work. It won’t be reasonably possible to renovate their house! But it might mean you have to check they have a suitable desk, chair etc.
For those of you that don’t know, the Workplace Helpdesk is a great service that you can access if you are a subscriber to the Employment Law Practical Handbook.
Here’s how it works…
Whenever you have a legal issue at work – however small – and you need to be absolutely sure you’re on a sound footing before acting, just email our Workplace Helpdesk with your query and our employment law experts will get back to you, with an answer, within 72 hours – GUARANTEED.
It doesn’t matter which area of employment law your question relates to – or how insignificant you think it is – by emailing us, you can be 100% sure of the action to take, and you’ll be able to move forward with complete confidence.
But remember, this service is only available to Employment Law Practical Handbook subscribers. If you’re not yet a subscriber, click here for more information on how you can trial the Employment Law Practical Handbook in your workplace FREE for 14 days.
Until next time…
Claire
P.S Picture this.
You’ve just offered a pivotal job to a top-notch candidate… and he’s accepted. He can start immediately and you can’t wait to bring him in. All that needs to happen is for his contract to be drawn up, signed and you’re good to go.
You call your lawyer who tells you it will cost $500 – and he can’t get the contract to you for over a week.
Do you know what? Forget that guy…
Today, you can download 85 ready-to-roll, legally approved contracts, forms, templates and policies that you can start using in your workplace in the next 48 hours – with 100% confidence – for a fraction of the cost of hiring an employment lawyer!
