Legislative and Policy Advice

There have been a number of legislative changes in the last two to three years which add to the compliance requirements that already impact on work/life/diversity and flexibility strategies. These include the Fair Work Act 2010 and changes to the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations which relate Women on Boards and other Diversity requirements.

Our consulting team can help you:

• Assess your level of compliance with Discrimination, Harassment and Bullying Legislation
• Assess your level of compliance with the Fair Work Act and the right to request a flexible work arrangement
• Implement tried and tested policies that are ready to customise for your business
• Review and update your policies
• Inform and skill managers to manage compliance issues within their teams.

Appropriate Workplace Behaviours

Appropriate workplace behaviours impact on the effectiveness of your work/life strategy. The behaviour of managers, team leaders and work colleagues strongly influences an employee's ability to access programs and policies on flexibility and/or other work/life issues.

Employees desiring to work flexibly may be subjected to harassment or bullying. Others with family responsibilities may experience discrimination and other inappropriate behaviours from colleagues. Inappropriate workplace behaviour impacts on productivity, client service, retention and your organisation's reputation.

• Is your organisation prepared to deal with these issues?
• Are your policies and practices compliant with current legislation?
• Have you done all that is reasonably possible to address these situations in your workplace?

 If not we can help you address these issues as well as:

• Training Contact and Investigation Officers
• Training Team Leaders
• Developing a communication strategy to promote your policies and options
• Providing ongoing advice and assistance.

Paid Parental Leave

Australia finally has a government sponsored paid parental leave (‘PPL’) scheme. The PPL commenced on 1 January 2011. The new scheme means that staff will also need to know about their rights and responsibilities.

Our consulting team can help you update your policies, develop supporting materials and share the experiences of other best practice organisations.

Keeping In Touch

Does your ‘Keeping in Touch’ program really encourage retention of staff?

Are you achieving a return rate from parental leave in excess of 95%? If not what is inhibiting the return of your staff?

Since organisations recognised the need to focus on the retention of employees with caring responsibilities there has been a significant change in work practices that support staff, particularly those who are carers. Employer sponsored parental leave and flexible work arrangements were and continue to be the most important initiatives.

The advent of the government’s Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme has brought into sharper focus the need for more effective Keeping in Touch Programs, especially where an employee requests and is given an extension to their initial 52 weeks parental leave.

One component of the PPL, is the entitlement for employees to access 10 'Keeping In Touch' (KIT) days while on leave. They can be used to great advantage to enable employees to maintain their skills and professional expertise. Yet feedback from research conducted in 2011 shows less than 50% of employers have a formal comprehensive KIT Program/Policy. This is in contrast to Best Practice organisations where each employee has a personally tailored KIT plan. Typically each plan includes:

• An initial interview with the manager where an agreed KIT plan is developed
• Clarification of what will constitute a ‘paid’ KIT Day
• Provision of detailed information on childcare (or eldercare) services
• Information about flexible work options
• Regular contact with team members
• Invitations to work functions and training
• Information about the various ‘return to work options’ that are available

This structured approach has been shown to deliver return rates exceeding 98%.

Contact us for advice and help about how to manage this important component of the PPL