Employment contracts and HR policies are the first steps in developing a strong workplace with clear expectations, and in line with your employment and safety obligations.
Whether it is reviewing your current contracts and policies to ensure they are up to date with current legislation and awards, or the creation of new customised contracts and polices from the ground up, our team have the knowledge to ensure your employment agreements, offers and policies protect the organisation and outline clear expectations and supports for employees.
A written employee contract removes uncertainty regarding the exact conditions of employment and the agreement in place. This is paramount in protecting your business in the event an employee makes a claim against your business.
As your business grows, so does the need to ensure workplace policies and procedures reflect the changing working environment and the current legislation. Without adequate policies and procedures, you expose yourself to legal risks and difficulty managing employee misconduct and poor performance.
PeopleStart’s highly experienced contract and policy development experts help you to ensure your employment contracts and HR policies are robust and comprehensive, whilst being practical to the needs of your organisation. We keep you updated on any legislative changes and work closely with you to ensure that you have the absolute best contracts and policies to protect your business.
We also have the expertise in developing and termination Enterprise Bargaining Agreements or EA’s and Collective Agreements, working with union and bargaining representatives and providing advice on better off overall tests.
Our outsourced HR consultants have extensive experience developing bespoke contracts and policies for all industries across Australia and New Zealand.
Employment Contract Review and Development
Employment contracts ensure the exact conditions of employment are clear and reduce the risks should an employee make a claim against your business.
We assist by reviewing your current contracts of employment, or by creating tailored and specific contracts for your business to suit all roles – from apprentices to the executive team.
We work closely with an assigned manager to understand your unique business needs and provide a plethora of inclusion options, explaining each clause so you understand why they are important and how they protect your organisation, and the impact to the employee so you can field any questions.
All contracts are delivered in template form so they can be used for a variety of staff groups and situations with minimal administrative input.
Our team have extensive knowledge in employment law to ensure our contracts follow best practice and provide the upmost protection for your organisation, and employees.
Considerations for the employment contract include:
- The applicable Modern Award or Enterprise Agreement
- Hours of work
- Pay structures
- Mode of employment (eg, full time, part time, casual)
- Length of employment (eg, fixed term, maximum term, permanent, casual)
- Provisions for leave entitlements
- Provisions for confidential information and intellectual property
- Set off clauses, or all-inclusive hourly rates
- Notice period and restraint clause
HR Policies
HR Policies and Procedures are part of the foundation of your organisation, by setting clear expectations of employees and for employees, in line with your employment and safety obligations.
As your business grows, so does the need to ensure you have inclusive policies and procedures to protect employees, and your organisation. We update your current policies to ensure they comply with new legislative changes and ensure procedures fit the changing work environment.
With the current focus on workplace behaviours, in particular, reporting obligations in regard to Sexual Harassment, it is important you have the right policies and procedures in place to protect your employees, as well as protect your business. The bar has now been raised for what is expected not only in the community, but also the workplace, as well as being proactive rather than reactive to employee concerns or issues.
We recommend all businesses include the below HR Policies:
- Code of conduct
- Drug and Alcohol
- Work Health and Safety
- Fitness for Work
- Bullying
- Sexual Harassment
- Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity
- Privacy
- IT/Social media Use
- Expense claims / travel
Additional policies can also include:
- Whistle-blower (required for publicly listed, large revenue or NFP organisation’s listed with ACNC with a revenue of over $1MAUD)
- Grievance/conflict resolution
- External media and communications
- Motor Vehicle use
- Performance management and disciplinary
- Flexible work
- Working form Home
- Leave (including parental, domestic, annual, personal, and long service)
- Uniform and dress code
Business Driven. People Focussed.
Our professional consultants have extensive industry experience and available to chat anytime. Reach out and we’ll happily answer your questions.
