Solving your Human Resources and Industrial Relations Challenges
We are your on-call, part-time Human Resources Consultant located in Wollongong. Providing HR help and support with a focus on Allied Health and NDIS providers.
Who We Are
John Morrissey has been an employment lawyer for more than 40 years. He has a deep knowledge of workplace and employment law and now provides Human Resources and Industrial Relations help to SMEs in Wollongong and Illawarra. John solves difficult workplace problems, HR disputes and helps manage business HR risks either on the phone or in person.
John is your business’s on-call Human Resources and redundancy support.
What We Do
Employment contracts are essential documents for your workplace relations. An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and an employee that sets out the terms and conditions of employment.
Your employment contracts cannot fall below the requirements of the Modern Award and the National Employment Standards (NES), but apart from these standards and any other specific requirements such as health and safety, you can dictate the terms of employment for your business.
Contractor agreements set out the terms and conditions of a contractual relationship. This contracting relationship cannot be an employment agreement it must be in writing and clearly state that the person supplying the services is a contractor. Such details include:
- The services being provided
- When an invoice will be an issue and on what terms the invoice will be paid
- The contractor’s and client’s contact information
- Other terms (like contract period or intellectual property)
Similar to employment contracts, workplace policies detail rights and responsibilities within the workplace. The big difference is that a contract is absolutely enforceable and legally enforceable.
Workplace policies communicate your business’ expectations for performance and behaviour and detail how issues will be dealt with in the organisation. Policies allow for discretion in their implementation, granting businesses control within the business.
It is important that workplace policies do not form part of the employment contract but create an obligation for the employee to comply with the policy.
Underpayment claims are legal proceedings where employees claim that their employee has not paid them what they are owed. They are costly, time-consuming and damaging to your business’ image.
Proper HR management for contracts and policies can help you avoid such issues, but if one arises, it is important for your business to handle them correctly. The best way to do this is to first seek advice from an HR professional. If you are not sure that your business has paid employees correctly get a wage and salary audit this will give the business owner peace of mind and may prevent the Fair Work Ombudsman from requesting a binding undertaking from the business.
Modern awards are legally enforceable documents that state the minimum terms and conditions of employment on top of the National Employment Standards (NES). Modern awards cover such things as:
Pay
- Hours of work
- Rosters
- Breaks
- Allowances
- Overtime
Understanding how the relevant modern award operates in your business is an essential HR obligation of the business. A business may have more than one award covering the work that the employees carry out. Don’t guess what Modern Award applies to your business get advice from an experienced HR professional.
Internal workplace investigations are difficult procedures that help you, as the employer, determine any wrongdoing within your organisation. Workplace investigation may be necessary for bullying matters Harassment issues and other conduct matters. They often involve several procedural and substantive requirements and considerations that are easy to get wrong.
Such an investigation must be impartial and regarded seriously, with confidentiality. Workplace policies often prevent the need for workplace investigations, but this does not mean that they can’t happen. If you are thinking about launching a workplace investigation, contact an experienced HR professional.
Performance management is a corporate management tool that helps managers monitor and evaluates an employee’s work and usually arises when the employee has failed to properly or adequately carry out their allotted tasks.
Performance Management can also relate to conduct issues such as the finding of bullying and sexual harassment failing to comply with essential requirements of the role
Getting performance management wrong can be a costly HR mistake and result in an Unfair Dismissal Claim in the Fair Work Commission.
Planning Performance Management is essential for the correct Industrial relations process.
Procedural Fairness and Nature Justice as part of the proper Industrial relations Process.
Get the right advice from an experienced Industrial Relation Expert.
An unfair dismissal claim in the Fair Work Commission is where an employee brings a claim against their old employer for a dismissal that is harsh, unjust or unreasonable. Such claims are costly, time-consuming and damaging to your business’ image.
The best way to avoid an unfair dismissal claim or win one is to make sure that all the proper steps are followed. This begins with the drafting of contracts and job descriptions including attempts to stop such behaviour such as policies or performance management and flows through to the dismissal stage, whether that be investigations or redundancy.
Unfair dismissal claims are serious and very costly for a business, particularly an SME and should be treated as such. Talk to an HR professional with a deep understanding of employment law to manage an unfair dismissal claim lodged in the Fair Work Commission.
Injured workers in your workplace can be a big problem for any business that has not taken the proper precautions.
One big precaution to take is a workplace safety policy that details your expectations of any employee on a work site or anywhere else where they are completing work.
If you have an injury occur in the workplace, it is important to record the incident properly and thoroughly, and then it may be necessary to seek professional HR advice.
Articles
As part of our commitment to helping you better understand the HR space, we have a blog that answers common problems small businesses face.
We are Your Off-Site HR Manager
HR/IR Solutions provide a HR consulting service that is customised to your business’s needs. John’s workplace law experience means he is able to help resolve most workplace problems, including:
Industries we help
HR/IR Solutions work with a variety of sectors including NDIS and Allied Health providers, new businesses and the building and construction industry.
Our industry-specific services are expertly tailored to meet the unique needs of each sector, ensuring effective HR and Industrial Relations support.
A remote/outsourced HR manager will save your business time, money and unnecessary stress on Human Resources matters. We work with you as much or as little as you require.
Free Redundancy Booklet
Redundancy can be a complex workplace problem to navigate for employers. We have made a range of materials to help you understand what needs to be done. Feel free to contact John if you would like to discuss these resources further.
HR Consultant
for all industries
Our team offers support for small business across a wide range of sectors, from health, to construction, logistics and manufacturing.
We provide allied health teams with everything from employment contracts to advice on workplace awards and solving workforce issues.
We help NDIS Providers with everything from employment contracts, compliance checks, interviews and staff retention.
Starting a new business can be difficult, so it is important to have all your contracts and documentation organised at the beginning. We can help you through this.
Our team will help building and construction teams with finding and retaining staff, implementing safe work practices and sorting out compensation claims.
We can provide businesses in the logistics and manufacturing sector with all necessary employment documents and workplace process forms.
Client Endorsements
*We would like to congratulate Purpose Physiotherapy on their nomination for the Illawarra Local Business Awards, 2022.
We Work Directly With You
As your local Human Resources and Industrial Relations problem solvers, we focus on supporting you and your business through all types of human resources issues and industrial relations problems. We work with a variety of sectors including Allied Health and NDIS Providers. We can help you with:
- Position Descriptions
- Providing Business Advice
- Employment Contracts and Documents
- Manage Industrial Relations Claims
- Union Management
- Underpayment Claims
Toolkits
We have developed a number human resources toolkits and guides designed to help small business in Wollongong and the Illawarra.
Tell us about your business
Fill out our contact form and John will call you to discuss your business needs.
