When operating your professional services business in Australia, you must be aware of certain responsibilities towards your employees. Your employees have legally protected rights that you, as their employer, must uphold and avoid infringing. Importantly, failure to do so may prompt complaints and legal action. This article will explain key elements of employment law for a professional service business, including employment agreements, leave obligations, flexible working arrangements and workplace health and safety.
Employment Agreements
It is essential to create an employment agreement that is clear and explicit. An employment agreement is a contract that details your employee’s rights and responsibilities, as well as your obligations and expectations towards your employee. Overall, you must create an employment agreement that appropriately manages your relationship with your employee. Some key features of a properly formulated employment agreement include:
- explicitly drafted expectations of the employee’s actions and behaviour;
- material items such as pay and working hours; and
- the kind of work you expect your employee to perform.
In general, written employee agreements are recommended so that you and your employees can refer back to what you have agreed on. Importantly, you should only make promises that you can keep.
Drafting these employment contracts can be a complex process. As a result, seeking legal advice to help you develop an employment agreement that suits your needs and the circumstances of your employees can be helpful.
Leave
Your agreements may provide for specific unique leave entitlements. Nonetheless, there are some minimum standards for leave that all employees are entitled to under employment law.
Parental Leave
Eligible employees can access unpaid parental leave if they have worked with you for 12 months before the birth of their child or when their leave starts. Employees can access up to 24 months of unpaid parental leave. You are entitled to receive notice before the employee takes parental leave.
Annual Leave
Many full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 17.5% leave loading while on annual leave. Over a year, full-time employees accrue 4 weeks of paid annual leave, and part-time employees receive annual leave on a pro-rata basis.
Other Forms of Leave
There are several other forms of leave that your employees may be entitled to. These include:
- personal/carers leave, which is 10 days a year for full-time employees (pro-rated for part-time employees);
- long service leave, with the leave period depending on the relevant state or territory;
- paid family and domestic violence leave; and
- compassionate leave.
Flexible Work Arrangements
More and more employees are taking advantage of flexible working arrangements that allow them more freedom in how, when and where they work. As an employer in the professional services space, you may need to provide certain employees with flexible working arrangements when requested. Employees can be eligible for reasons such as:
- pregnancy;
- parental/carer responsibilities;
- a disability;
- their age; or
- family/domestic violence.
These arrangements might involve providing employees with the option to work from home or within a wider range of hours. In the workplace, you may also allow them to take breaks as required due to physical limitations and needs.
If an employee’s role demands that they work in a particular place or at a specific time, you may be able to deny their request for flexible working arrangements. For example, an employee with a client-facing sales role may not be able to work from home if their job requires them to meet prospective customers in the workplace. You can only deny a valid request for flexible working arrangements if you have met with the employee and tried to come to a compromise that fits your business needs and allows them the flexibility they want. If this is not possible, you must be able to show that the denial was on reasonable business grounds.
Workplace Health and Safety
It may seem that because your employees work in an office or from home, you do not have any workplace health and safety risks to manage. However, health and safety incidents can still arise in an office setting. Some potential risks include:
- uncomfortable seating, which can cause damage to employees’ backs and long-term injury for which you may be liable;
- hazards such as fires, which must be accounted for when creating plans to address workplace incidents; and
- stressful work environments that can impact your employee’s mental health and can attract legal consequences for you.
To prevent legal action arising from your management of workplace risks, you should be prepared in advance to deal with health and safety incidents. You should also take reasonable steps to limit the risks present in your office.
As an employer, understand your essential employment obligations with this free LegalVision factsheet.
Key Takeaways
You must know your obligations to your employees under employment law as a professional services business. Firstly, a well-drafted employment agreement makes your employee’s obligations and rights clear and explicit. You should also understand the different leave entitlements your employees are eligible for, as well as when you can grant flexible working arrangements. Finally, you must prioritise workplace health and safety, mitigating relevant risks to protect your employees and limit your liability.
If your professional service business needs help managing employment law obligations, our experienced professional services lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Some leave entitlements your employees may be eligible for are parental leave and annual leave. They may also be able to seek carers leave, long service leave, paid family and domestic violence leave, or compassionate leave.
Although your professional services business may operate remotely or in an office setting, you should still maintain a clear and thorough workplace health and safety policy. Furthermore, you should account for all potential risks, such as ergonomics issues and fire hazards. Lastly, be aware that safety risks include psychosocial hazards that can harm employee wellbeing, such as a stressful work environment.
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