Thought for the day:

1. Thought for the day: “All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.” ~ JFK

2. Ms Haran

3. Human ResourcesLegal – the current legal framework The employment contract Occupational health and safety and workers compensation Antidiscrimination and equal employment opportunity

5. Get an A A Grade To what extent, Evaluate, discuss, justify, advise, recommend. Band 6 Evaluation Apply, Examine, Analyse, Interpret, Formulate. Band 5 Application & Analysis Compare, Contrast, distinguish,, construct, calculate, explain. Band 4 Understand Define, Clarify, describe, extract, identify, outline, recall, recount, state summaries Band 2/3 Knowledge

6. The employment contract • Common law (rights and obligations of employers and employees) • Minimum employment standards • Minimum wage rates • Awards • Enterprise agreements • Other employment contracts

7. Starter: • Write on a card… • What do you think employer’s rights at work should be • What do you think employee’s rights at work should be

8. Rights and responsibilities • Both employees and employers have legal rights. • An employer’s rights are the employee’s responsibilities (and vice versa). • Some legal rights are statutory. This means everyone has them. • Some legal rights are contractual. These are rights stated in the contract of employment.

9. The employment contract • a legally binding, formal agreement between employer and employee.

10. The employment contract • Between employer and employee. • Every employee has a contract with an employer. • A written or verbal contract • A written contract encourages the parties to clarify the key duties and responsibilities of a job (verbal is one person’s word against another).

11. What makes a contract? The contract does not need to be written, but it is valid and legally enforceable when: • the parties involved intend to create a legal relationship • one party offers and the other accepts the offer • both parties obtain a benefit(consideration) • both parties have the capacity to contract; for example, they are old enough to make the contract • consent is genuine and not pressured (Duress/undue influence) • the offer does not contravene any public interest.

12. Pg

13. Employer legal rights and the contract of employment The employee must: • Do what the contract of employment says. These are the express terms (Express terms are those clearly stated, eg hours of work, location, holiday entitlement, notification of absence if sick etc. ). • Comply with the implied terms – so obvious they are not stated (honesty, working towards the objectives of the organisation, etc).Implied terms may be expressly stated if they are felt to be very important – such as confidentiality clauses in many contracts. • Comply with all health and safety rules.

14. Common law • Under common law, both parties — employers and employees — have basic obligations in any employment relationship, regardless of whether it is in a formal or informalcontract. • The obligations of each party are reflected in the rights of the other party.

15. Common law The common law is developed by courts and tribunals (Judge made law). Not made by a parliament (statutes). Under common law, judges make decisions based on the facts of a case, guided by precedent (decisions made in the past). The body of common law (‘case law’) is therefore developed from decisions made over time by judges.

16. Common law Employer obligations • Providing work • Payment of income and expenses • Meeting requirements of industrial relations legislation (providing a workplace and work practices – equity/discrimination, EEO, protected against unfair dismissal) • Duty of Care Pg 390

17. Common law Employee obligations • Obey lawful and reasonable commands made by the employer. • Use care and skill in the performance of their work activities • Act in good faith and in the interests of the employer.

18. Activity Pg 390 • Understand Band 4 Using a hypothetical business create a scenario where an employee or employer’s rights have been breached.

19. Minimum employment standards • The ‘Ten National Employment Standards’ provided by employers and state minimum conditions for employees. • They have been planned to provide a greater safetynet for employees, particularly for the most vulnerable and low-paid employees in the workforce. • What did you think it should include? (your cards) • Play (young workers)(4mins)

21. Minimum wagerates The employee’s base rate of pay for ordinary hours worked has been determined by: • the award or agreement that covers the employee. The rate of pay cannot be less than the minimum wage. • the national minimum wage. This applies to employees not covered by awards or agreements.

22. Minimum wagerates MWR are reviewed annually by a panel of seven members of Fair Work Australia… they consider: • the performance and competitiveness of the national economy, including productivity, business competitiveness and viability, inflation, and employment growth. • promoting social inclusion through increased workforce participation • relative living standards and the needs of low-income earners • the principle of equal pay for work of equal or comparable value • providing a comprehensive range of fair minimum wages to junior employees, trainees, and employees with a disability.

23. AWARDS • Awards are legally binding documents containing minimum terms and conditions of employment (in addition to any legislated minimum terms for an industry or occupation). • OPEN

24. AWARDS They may include: • minimum wages • penalty rates • types of employment • flexible working arrangements • hours of work • rest breaks • classifications • allowances • leave and leave loading • superannuation • redundancy entitlements • procedures for consultation

25. AWARDS • Awards areadjusted for increases awarded in annual National Wage Cases (heard by Fair Work Australia). • They also cover a large proportion of employees in lower skilled occupational groups in the hospitality, retailing and community service sectors. • They are looking into simplifying awards (reduce the complexity and costs to businesses involved with interpreting such agreements). • Under the national system, employees may now be covered by modern awards or enterprise agreements, which can be developed or varied through Fair Work Australia.

26. AWARDS • The process for making an award (as shown in figure 14.16 on page 393) requires lodgement of a dispute (‘paper’ or real) by a union or employer association, as the Constitution only allows for dispute settlement at the federal level.

27. Pg 393

28. AWARDS • Award breaches may be reported by employees to Fair Work Australia (FWA) through the Fair Work Ombudsman, or through a union. Play (5 mins) • FWA inspectors are able to investigate workplace complaints and provide assistance in resolving them. • A union official has the right to enter premises to investigate a complaint during working hours if they hold a valid and current right of entry permit issued by FWA. • Employers who refuse, delay or obstruct a visit may be penalised.

29. Activity • Band 2/3/4

30. Legal influences • Changing community and worker expectations on social justice (equal employment opportunity, anti-discrimination), safety and environmental issues are increasingly reflected in legislation and work practices.

31. Enterprise agreements • Enterprise agreements are collective agreements made at a workplace (enterprise) level between an employer and a group of employees about terms and conditions of employment. • Collective agreements are made between a group of employees (or one or more unions representing employees) and an employer or group of employers.

32. Enterprise agreements • They offer broader terms and conditions than a modern award, and are an alternative to a modern award.

33. Enterprise agreements • Single-enterprise agreements: made between a single employer and a group of employees. They can involve more than one employer in limited cases (e.g. where two or more employers are engaged in a joint venture). • Multi-enterprise agreements: made between two or more employers and groups of their employees. This may occur if they share common funding, operate collaboratively and have a common regulatory system, such as a group of hospitals. • Greenfields agreements: single-enterprise and multi-enterprise agreements relating to a genuine new enterprise of the employer(s) that are made before any employees to be covered by the agreement are employed. Greenfields agreements are made with one or more relevant unions.

34. Enterprise agreements The key features of enterprise agreements are: • they may cover rates of pay, penalty rates and overtime, allowances, hours of work, personal and annual leave, any matters related to the relationship between the employer and the employees, plus their representative organisations involved, and how the agreement will operate, including a nominal expiry date. • They must be approved by Fair Work Australia, who must be satisfied of certain criteria (pg 393)

35. Other employment contracts • Individual common law employment contracts (pg 394) • Independent contractors (often known as consultants or freelancers, undertake work for others) (pg 394) • Contracts for casual work (pg 395) • Part-time contracts (pg 395) Read and explain: On the spot.

36. Activity • Understand (compare) Band 4 In pairs, compare the process of negotiating enterprise/collective agreements with the negotiation of individual contracts (pg 393 – 394)

37. Understand (compare) Band 4 Activity In pairs, compare the process of negotiating enterprise/collective agreements with the negotiation of individual contracts… Enterprise/collective agreements Individual contracts

38. Following the election of the Rudd Labor government in 2007, a new legislative framework for industrial relations was enacted through the Fair Work Act 2009. Work Choices laws were abolished, including statutory individual Australian Workplace Agreements under the previous Howard government.

39. Decentralised • Unregistered individual common law contracts of employment, casual work and independent contracting remain common options for individual employment arrangements, with many employees indicating they are offered employment under these conditions on a ‘take it or leave it’ arrangement. • shift the responsibility of organising employment conditions, such as sick and carers leave, onto the employee.

40. Decentralised • A shift from from a strongly centralised industrial relations system in the 1980s to a decentralised • A centralised industrial relations system is a collectivist approach in which disputes are referred to industrial tribunals, such as Fair Work Australia, for conciliation and arbitration. • In a decentralised industrial relations system, employers and employees negotiate wages and working conditions in the individual workplace, through collective or individual bargaining and without the involvement of tribunals.

41. Summary • Allemployers have legal rights. Employees must keep to their contract and obey health and safety rules. • Allemployees have legal rights. Employers must keep to the contract, obey health and safety rules, allow access to personal records, etc. • Many rights are statutory. Additional rights are contractual.

42. Refer back to……. • What do you think employer’s rights at work should be • What do you think employee’s rights at work should be • Were these aspects covered by common law, statutes or Awards? • Which? (common law, statutes or Awards)

43. 2009-10 financial year, 5.3% (640,700 people) experienced at least one work-related injury or illness.53 injuries per 1,000 people employed.The estimated cost of work-related injuries is $57.5 billion dollars (workplace injuries have an economic impact on the broader community in the form of medical and legal expenses, as well as the costs associated with retraining, and loss of productivity and morale among co-workers.) Thought for the day:

44. Human ResourcesLegal – the current legal framework The employment contract Occupational health and safety and workers compensation Antidiscrimination and equal employment opportunity

46. The employment contract • Common law (rights and obligations of employers and employees) • Minimum employment standards • Minimum wage rates • Awards • Enterprise agreements • Other employment contracts

47. Legislation • Legislation covers the nature of employment contract and agreements; dispute settling methods; protection of human rights in employment; and employer responsibility for tax payments on behalf of employees. • Occupational health and safety legislation

48. Activity • Four groups (every one gets a number 1 – 4 – can be more than one number). • You study your section and take notes. (10 mins) • Groups split and form new four groups. You have 6 minutes to teach the main points from your section to new members) (24 mins) • Back to your original group, compare your ‘main points’ for each section. (10 mins) • Occupational health and safety (pg 399 – 401) • workers compensation (pg 401 – 402) • Antidiscrimination (pg 405 – 407) • Equal employment opportunity (pg 407 – 409) • Knowledge (Extracting) Band 2 • Discuss

49. Activity • Understand Band 4 Pair-Share. ‘What is the impact of ‘laws/Awards’ on business’ One minute to think about your response. Pair up and explain response to one another (3 minutes). Discuss the issue as a class

50. Impact on the business • The impact of legislation has both good and bad effects on business. • It could be argued that strict legislations force the business production costs up (eg. Minimum wage) • Large business employ specialist lawyers who advise them on ways to minimise the impact. • Major business can lobby the government • Level the playing field (those who choose to be nice aren't penalised) • Global implications – prices rise to keep making profit • Analysis Band 5