WorkSight Newsletter
December 2002
VECCI subscribers party to awards
In a recent decision by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission it
was decided that VECCI (Victorian Employers' Chamber of Commerce and
Industry) subscribers are covered by awards that VECCI is a bound by. This
is an important decision because it means that employers may have been party
to an award without realising it.
Employers who join VECCI are automatically covered by any awards that
VECCI is party to and that also apply to the employer's industry. A few
years ago VECCI felt that this automatic coverage by awards was not wanted
by some of its members and so it introduced a subscription-based service. It
was intended that subscribers could use VECCI's services but not be covered
by VECCI awards. However the Australian Industrial Relations Commission has
said that subscribers to VECCI are no different to members of VECCI and so
the awards cover subscribers just as they do members.
It is of utmost importance to employers that they know whether an award
(or awards) apply to their business or not. If an award does apply and an
employer was not aware of this fact and paid their employees less than the
award rates of pay or less generous employment conditions they could be
liable to a range of back pay claims (e.g. for wages, overtime, paid public
holidays, bereavement leave, sick leave). Such claims could come from both
current and past employees.
It is vital that all employers check whether they are covered by an award
either in their own name or by virtue of their membership of an employer
organisation. WorkSight can carry out this check for you. If you are unsure
you should contact WorkSight for immediate advice.
Rewarding your employees
SC Johnson recently won a National Work and Family Award for its
consistency in trying to balance work and family issues. The company surveys
their staff to see what is important to them, what they like and don't like
about working with SC Johnson.
They then trial new policies and procedures. For instance a survey showed
that employees didn't like meetings before 9.00am or after 4.00pm as they
tended to cut into family time. They trialed having no meetings during those
times and then decided to adopt a policy that prefers meetings to be held
between 9.00am and 4.00pm.
In addition SC Johnson provide:
- gym facilities
- a subsidised canteen
- pickup and drop off dry cleaning
- EFTPOS
- 9 weeks paid parental leave
- 5 days paid carers leave
- an employee assistance program
- sabbatical leave
- stay in touch parental leave, and
- study leave.
Woodside also provide a range of rewards to encourage employee loyalty
and commitment. Again they conduct regular surveys amongst their employees
to see what their employees like and don't like about the company. Some of
their innovative employment policies are:
- Awards for employees (which can range from a phone call, letters of
thanks, certificates, plaques, articles in the company newsletter,
nominations for industry or professional awards),
- Dinner for employees and partners,
- Chocolates, flowers, hampers, movie tickets for employees,
- Tickets for concerts and sporting events,
- Sponsorship, fundraising for community activities,
- Annual health and lifestyle programs and gender health programs,
- On site yoga and meditation rooms (Massage Visits),
- Up to date technology.
Many of these employment conditions and policies do not cost a lot to
introduce. The key thing is to find out what your employees want that would
make their working life easier to balance with their personal life. Staff
who feel that their lives are reasonably balanced are more likely to be
happier and more productive at work.
Once you have established what your employees would like you can work out
what you can afford to introduce.
As we approach Christmas and the end of the year it is a good time to
consider how you can reward your staff for their work over the year. For
more ideas on innovative employment conditions, surveying staff and how to
introduce new employment conditions contact WorkSight.
Change to OSIRIS website
OSIRIS has launched its new website for award and agreement information.
The new website can be found at
www.wagenet.gov.au
The new search facility has some significant advantages over the old
OSIRIS system such as being able to limit your search to a particular state.
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