The Importance Of Knowing The Ins & Outs Of Employment Law Here In Australia.
No business in Australia can afford to ignore the rules and regulations that have been put into place to not only protect businesses but to protect their employees as well. You cannot strive for higher profits at any price because if you do not follow the rules then it can really impact your business in a very negative way. Businesses all across the country experience employment issues every single day of the week but they look at the rules and regulations and then they create a solution that suits all parties.
It does make sense to turn to an employment solicitor when you’re not sure what to do when it comes to a certain situation and you can’t keep ignoring problems and hoping that they will go away. Experiencing employment issues is seen as quite a normal thing here in Australia but the main thing that you need to understand is that you need to address the small issue before it becomes a much bigger problem later on. There are different kinds of employment laws and the following are just some of those.
- There is civil law – This is put into place to protect all of your employees and prospective employees from any kind of discrimination. It is forbidden here in Australia to hire someone or not to hire them as a result of their religion, how old they are, the gender that they are or they choose to be, their nationality and many other things. It is important to be fair in all decisions that are made within your business enterprise.
- There is compensation law – Employees need to be paid and they need to be paid a fair salary for the work that they do. It is the reason that people come to work every single day and so you need to be following the rules with requirements to the minimum wage set out here in Australia. You also need to follow the rules when it comes to overtime pay and if an accident or injury occurs in the workplace then you need to be offering compensation to your workers as well.
- There is family & medical leave – Some of your employees will get sick and they will suffer from medical issues that need attention. This is why there are rules in place to allow your workers a certain amount of weeks off every single year for such things. There is no requirement for you as an employer to have to pay your workers while they take this leave and you can encourage them to come back to work if it is possible.
We haven’t even covered workplace safety law that is there to make sure that you put in place health and safety standards as set out by the government. You need to provide your workers with essential safety equipment, train them properly when handling heavy machinery and making sure that they don’t come to work under the influence of drugs or any alcohol.