Dealing with termination of employment and discrimination
Do you know how termination of
employment requirements have changed? Would you be confident to make an
employee redundant under the new laws if the need arose?
It
would be easy to perceive that there is little change in this important part of
the Fair Work Act but this is far from reality. The legislation is now
inclusive of most employers including the small contractor and many of the
previous exemptions have been removed.
This information session will guide
employers through the new provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 relating
to termination of employment, redundancy, as well as anti-discrimination
provisions and how they relate to ‘adverse action’ in employment.
The seminar will canvass what constitutes harsh, unjust or unreasonable
dismissal, and procedures that can be followed to reduce the likelihood that a
termination would be considered unfair. Eligibility to make a claim will also
be covered, as will the role of representatives and Fair Work Australia in the
dispute resolution/arbitration process, and the remedies available to
applicants. Employers will be informed of which employers are exempt from the
unfair dismissal provisions and what exactly constitutes a ‘genuine redundancy’
under the new legislation.
More
significantly there are a new and expanded range of remedies which come under
the heading of ‘adverse action’ which will require an increased knowledge and
awareness so that issues such as promotion or access to training can be handled
without risk.
Consider
the following questions:
§ Would you be
confident that your policies and procedures comply as a minimum with the new
small business code relating to terminations and protect yourself against an
allegation that a dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable?
§ Would you be
confident that your managers and supervisors have enough knowledge to be able
to handle dismissal without exposing your company to reinstatement or significant
compensation?
§ Do you now know that
before you make employees redundant that you must first explore reasonable
redeployment options with your own or associated companies?
§ Do you know how the
new hearing arrangements of Fair Work Australia will impact on your business?
§ Did you know that an
employee who earns over $108,300 and is subject to a modern award or enterprise
agreement still has rights to make an unfair dismissal claim?
§ Did you know that
Fair Work Australia can now hear a dispute relating to a failure to engage a
new employee on the grounds that he/she had made a claim relating to workplace
injury?
§ Do you know what a
workplace right is and what this means if you unwittingly affect this?
These are just a few of the issues
which will be addressed in this information session in a practical down to
earth way.