As the owner of a real estate agency, it is essential to understand and apply Australian employment law correctly. After all, a lack of adequate planning can result in failing to satisfy the myriad of duties imposed on you. Real estate agencies have the same employment obligations as any other employer, primarily found in the Fair Work Act 2009. In addition, every state and territory has laws relating to real estate agents. This article will highlight critical issues to consider when hiring and managing employees for real estate agencies.
Hiring Appropriate Employees
Real estate agencies are a special kind of business because they handle large amounts of money on behalf of clients. As a result, it is crucial to properly screen workers to ensure that they hold the appropriate licence as a real estate agent. Even for administrative roles, you should still give some thought to the ethical character of the person.
National Employment Standards
Once you have chosen your employees and confirmed any licence requirements, you should familiarise yourself with the National Employment Standards (NES). You must provide employees with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement that explains their guaranteed entitlements before or at a reasonable time after hiring. These standards include leave entitlements, such as annual leave and carers leave.
You must provide casual employees with a copy of the Casual Employment Information Statement. This is a separate statement that outlines the rights of casual employees.
Continue reading this article below the formAwards and Enterprise Agreements
You can negotiate pay entitlements through individual contracts or register an enterprise agreement that applies to all employees.
You can pay your employees whatever you want, as long as it is not below the legal entitlements in modern awards. An award typically contains:
- minimum rates of pay;
- maximum work hours;
- leave entitlements;
- bonus payments and allowances; and
- flexible working arrangements.
The Real Estate Industry Award covers employees who fit within specific occupational classifications. Examples of employees covered include:
- property sales associates, representatives and supervisors;
- property management associates, representatives and supervisors; and
- strata/community title management associates, representatives and supervisors.
However, the Real Estate Award does not cover those employees who are better categorised under the Clerks Award.
This factsheet provides an overview of a real estate agent’s professional obligations.
What about Work Health and Safety?
Based on work health and safety (WHS) law, you have a duty of care to take reasonable precautions to avoid exposing your employees to unreasonable risks of injury. Fortunately, most states and territories have enacted harmonised laws that set your work health and safety responsibilities.
The steps to ensure WHS vary based on the circumstances and resources of your business. It is crucial to consider the likelihood of a hazard and the degree of harm, including psychological harm, that might result from it. A high magnitude of harm typically calls for a more robust protective response.
Injuries sometimes arise from handling heavy objects or moving furniture. To provide a workplace free of health and safety incidents, you should consider:
- implementing adequate training and hire qualified staff;
- conducting regular safety audits and promptly rectifying any identified risks;
- consulting regularly with staff to help identify threats; and
- checking that your complaints procedure is adequate for detecting problems.
In some states, a company director may be personally liable for breaches of health and safety duties. You can protect yourself by showing that you have acted honestly and fulfilled your duty of care by acting diligently to organise the implementation of work health and safety obligations.
Guarding against Discrimination
All aspects of the recruitment, onboarding, discipline, promotion and termination process at your business must be free from discrimination. Discrimination based on protected attributes such as race, age, or sexuality is generally not allowed. For example, you cannot take adverse action based on age unless age is a necessary job requirement. Adverse action includes, but is not limited to:
- firing an employee;
- changing an employee’s job to their disadvantage; or
- not hiring someone.
One way to prevent discrimination is to establish processes and criteria for hiring, evaluating, and making career decisions. This ensures that decisions are based on merit rather than personal biases. Additionally, education programs can help staff understand the importance of merit-based choices and the negative impacts of discrimination.
Another helpful tactic is fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion by recognising staff achievements and appropriate cultural traditions. This can help your employees feel valued and respected, regardless of their characteristics.
Key Takeaways
As a real estate agency owner, you have a duty to act in good faith and for a proper purpose when hiring and managing staff. You should consider the law and best practice guidelines around recruitment, onboarding, work health and safety and equal opportunity. Having internal policies to address the employer-employee relationship will ensure that your agency runs smoothly.
If you would like assistance with employment law for real estate agencies, our experienced employment 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.
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