Simplifying Your Industrial Relations Challenges
Cameron Blewett 
Episode 15 of the IR Simplified podcast continues the discussion on unlimited personal/carer’s leave.
Following on from the discussion started in episode 10, I go a little deeper into the reasons why I think every business should adopt an unlimited leave policy.
You can subscribe to the IR Simplified newsletter by following this link.
Episode 14 of the IR Simplified podcast goes into what shouldn’t be in an enterprise agreement.
A previous article written about the charter of workplace delegate’s rights
From the FWC regarding unlawful content
Other articles that I have written regarding Enterprise Agreements are:
Episode 13 of the IR Simplified podcast goes into what should be in an enterprise agreement.
Clauses from the FWC website:
This is episode 2 of the series on Enterprise Agreements.
In this episode I talk about the sending out of the Notice Of Employee Representational Rights you can find a copy here.
I also go into why I think getting a draft agreement signed off is one of the most important things a business must do during the bargaining period.
Other articles that I have written regarding Enterprise Agreements are:
Enterprise Agreements. What Are They?
Planning Your First Enterprise Agreement
Episode 11 begins the 9 part series on Enterprise Agreements. In this episode I give a brief overview of what enterprise agreements are, talk about the different types of enterprise agreements, and share some of my thoughts about why I believe enterprise agreements are good for a business. You can subscribe to the podcast using … Read more
In this episode I talk about the cost that sick leave has on the economy, and that we need to move away from the archaic way that we very personal/carer’s leave. It’s time we stopped this allocation of limited days and moved to unlimited sick leave. You can join the discussion on LinkedIn, in the … Read more
While I hope that you never have to do one, there may come a time where a workplace investigation is needed.
Workplace investigations come about for any number of reasons, though the most common are due to a complaint from a customer/client about a staff member; a complaint from an employee about another employee; or even from a stocktake/audit.
As a manager or business owner, you will need to make the decision as to whether the investigation is handled internally or given to an external investigator.
As every investigation/complaint should be assessed and worked through individually, it is often difficult to know when it should be handled internally, and when it should be given to an external investigator.
Your business has grown and employed a number of additional staff members. With this growth comes the additional challenges of deciding which tasks/duties to outsource, and which ones to handle in house.
One of the most common for small business to outsource or ignore altogether is industrial relations.
Both in house and outsourced management of industrial relations have their benefits and drawbacks, though how do you decide which ones to handle yourself and which ones not to?
Even though I am of the belief that any competent manager should be able to adequately handle a majority of industrial relations challenges, there may come a time where outsourcing it, is the best option for the company.
After a little bit of a break, the IR Simplified podcasts have returned.
This episode is an overview of the coming series which will be on enterprise agreements.
Future podcasts will be 7 days a week with Friday’s episode being a case study or review of a particular challenge that a client has faced, and how it has been solved either with a better understanding of industrial relations, or having a consultant come in to put a particular procedure or process in place.
On one side of the coin, you have business groups, and those pandering to that agenda telling anyone and everyone who will listen how Australia’s unfair dismissal laws are restrictive and holding business back from employing more people.
Then on the other side of the coin are the unions and The Greens who say that the laws don’t go far enough to protect workers.
With both sides getting time in the press, who is the business owner to believe?
Penalty rates. If you believe business and industry groups, they are restricting employment, holding the economy back, and are responsible for businesses closing their doors on weekend and public holidays.
Are they really the big bad evil that they are claimed to be, or do businesses deal with worse things?
If they aren’t that bad, what can be done to manage them?
Something that seems to be forgotten or overlooked in the propaganda battle is that penalty rates are a penalty imposed on a business for doing a particular task that is outside of normal operations. This could be working on weekends, working overnight, working in the rain, or even in extreme heat or cold.