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4 Tips for Making Sure Your Business is Compliant with the National Employment Standards

4 Tips for Making Sure Your Business is Compliant with the National Employment Standards

You’ve no doubt heard all about them.

The National Employment Standards.

They’re one of the biggest changes the Fair Work Act has made to industrial relations in Australia. And they came into operation on 1 January 2010 – which means if you are a national system employer you have to comply with them, NOW!

But there’s no need to stress. With the help of the Employment Law Practical Handbook, you can rest assured that you’ll have all bases covered when it comes to the NES.

So, now for a recap. What do the National Employment Standards mean for you?

In a nutshell, they provide for minimum terms and conditions in the following areas:

  • maximum weekly hours;

  • requests for flexible working arrangements;

  • parental leave and related entitlements;

  • annual leave;

  • personal/carer’s leave and compassionate leave;

  • community service leave;

  • long service leave;

  • public holidays;

  • notice of termination and redundancy pay; and

  • the provision of the Fair Work Information Statement.

Some of these entitlements do already exist – like parental leave, annual leave, personal/carer’s leave and maximum weekly hours – but some are new, like the right to request flexible working arrangements, community service leave and notice of termination and redundancy pay.

But remember, these entitlements are not set in stone!

If you wish, you can reach an agreement with individual employees about NES entitlements and make them suit the way your business works.

For example, if your employees are award/agreement free, you can make a written agreement with them to:

  • cash out accrued paid annual leave in excess of 4 weeks;

  • provide extra annual leave (e.g. 8 weeks per annum) in exchange for them foregoing an equivalent amount of pay;

  • average weekly hours over a specified period (not more than 6 months); or

  • work on a public holiday and take another day off instead.

Caution: If you are dealing with an employee covered by a modern award, you need to check whether it makes provision for making these kinds of agreements. A modern award may also make provision for an agreement to cash out paid personal/carer’s leave.

You’ll find these and many more great tips on the National Employment Standards in the Employment Law Practical Handbook.

For example:

Try these 4 handy tips for making sure your business is compliant with the NES…

  1. Develop policies and procedures to keep employees on parental leave informed of any changes that might affect their pre-leave role, and to deal with requests to extend parental leave.

  2. Develop policies and set out rules as to when employees will be required to take annual leave and when they can cash it out.

  3. Make sure you have made provision for the new entitlements to redundancy pay and community service leave in your employment contracts and policies.

  4. Make sure you include the Fair Work Statement in employee induction kits. Remember, it is an NES requirement that you provide all new employees with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement

Order your free trial today to discover what else the Employment Law Practical Handbook includes!

You will find out:

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