Are you looking to start your own tiling business or expand your already existing tiling business? If so, you should take time to consider what to include in your employment contracts. After all, employment contracts are the cornerstone of your business and are easy to create. This article will take you through what you should include in your employment contracts for tiling your tiling business.
What Should I Include in My Employment Contracts?
As a tiler, you are often required to work in various unique situations, whether working with other trades on a worksite, repairing a rare set of tiles, or racing the weather to complete a job. It can be challenging to account for all these situations.
Safety Measures
However, the more detail you include in your employment contracts, the more specific you can be that your business will be covered in a mishap or accident. Consequently, in your employment contracts, you should include safety measures that can be adapted to the vast array of situations in which you and your employees will find yourselves.
Harassment
Further, employment contracts also impact how your employees behave with one another. This is particularly important if your employees will be working on sites together. Your employment contracts should clearly state the definition and consequences of any harassment that might occur in the workplace.
As the owner of your tiling business, you are responsible for more than just the work done. Your employees’ behaviour and safety, and comfort are also your responsibility. Different employers ensure their employees’ excellent behaviour in different ways. However, using your employment contracts is the simplest and most effective way. You should leave no room for manoeuvre within your employment contracts by defining what constitutes harassment and outlining a course of action that will be followed in the event of such behaviour.
Additional Considerations
Some other things that you should consider when drafting employment contracts as a tiler include:
- equipment, such as what equipment will be provided and what training;
- any expectations of work outside of business hours;
- expected behaviour and etiquette with fellow employees, customers and other contractors;
- what clothing should be worn;
- the maximum amount of hours employees can work; and
- safety regulations.
General Employment Contract Provisions
At a minimum, you must ensure your employment contracts contain provisions that meet the National Employment Standards (NES). The NES make up the minimum entitlements for all employees across Australia, including:
- maximum weekly hours;
- requests for flexible working arrangements;
- long service leave;
- public holidays;
- parental leave and related entitlements;
- annual leave;
- persona leave and compassionate leave;
- offers and requests to convert from casual to permanent employment;
- community service leave;
- notice of termination and redundancy pay; and
- Fair Work Information Statement and Casual Employment Information Statement.
Do I Need Legal Advice When Creating Employment Contracts?
If you do not have prior legal experience, you should seek legal advice when drafting your employment contracts. However, you can prepare substantial amounts of your contracts if before seeking legal advice. Alternatively, you may seek legal advice immediately and have professional legal help tailor your contracts to suit your needs.
As an employer, understand your essential employment obligations with this free LegalVision factsheet.
Key Takeaways
Employment contracts are the cornerstone upon which the entire structure of your business can be built. As a tiler, the minimum provisions you should have in your employment contracts include:
- general employment provisions that meet the national employment standards;
- conditions relating to safety, equipment and behavioural expectations; and
- dispute resolution management.
If you need assistance preparing employment contracts for your tiling business, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. You will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
As a tiler, some specific provisions you may wish to include in your employment contracts contain should relate to what equipment and training will be provided, how your employees should behave with customers and how disputes will be managed. You also need to include general employment provisions in line with the National Employment Standards and the applicable award.
If you do not have prior legal experience, you should seek legal advice when drafting your employment contracts. However, this does not mean that you should rely on a legal professional to create all of your contracts. If you wish, you can draft a substantial amount of your contracts before seeking legal advice.
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