A talent feed for future HR Professionals

AHRI’s HR student work experience program is designed to assist student members studying HR or a related field to gain real-life HR work experience. The program connects students with member organisation through a week-long work experience placement, fully immersing them in the workplace and fills the gap between theoretical knowledge gained at university and practical knowledge. Equally, the program offers organisations the opportunity to tap into a potential talent pool, helping them to identify, develop and invest in future talent.

Twenty-four students were placed with participating member organisations in the pilot program this year; three placements resulted in employment.

The program will open for new intakes in early 2016.

Ref: HRMonthly November 2015

The blind side

Protecting vulnerable apprentice employees doesn’t have to be a guessing game.

Apprentices are some of the most vulnerable employees in the workforce. Not only are they dependent on their employer to provide them with the necessary training to complete their apprenticeship, but they are entirely new to the workforce and often don’t understand their rights as employees.

For these reasons, apprentices are often mistreated and sometimes unfairly dismissed. Sadly, many apprentices are unaware that they are protected by the unfair dismissal laws outlined in the Fair Work Act 2009, and they are eligible to make an unfair dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission.

Protection from unfair dismissal

Section 382 of the Fair Work Act 2009 states that a person is protected from unfair dismissal if the person is an employee who has completed the minimum employment period i.e. 12 months for a small business or six months for any other business), and either earns less than the high income threshold ($133,000 from July 2014) or is covered by a modern award or enterprise agreement.

Section 385 of the Fair Work Act 2009 provides that a person has been unfairly dismissed if:

• The dismissal was hard, unjust or unreasonable;
• The dismissal was not consistent with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code; and
• The dismissal was not a case of genuine redundancy.

Employers of apprentices sometimes operate under the misapprehension that the cancellation of an apprentice’s training contract does not constitute a ‘dismissal’ under the Act. However, this isn’t true, and assuming otherwise has legal ramifications for the business.

An apprentice whose engagement ends at the initiative of the employer during the life of the training contract is considered as dismissed by the employer. Therefore, the apprentice is eligible to make an application for an unfair dismissal remedy in the same circumstances as any other employee. However, an employer is under no obligation to continue to employ the apprentice at the expiry of the apprenticeship

Dismissing an apprentice

The protection offered to apprentices under the Fair Work Act 2009 does not mean that every dismissal of an apprentice will be rendered unfair. If an employer has genuine concerns with the performance or conduct of an apprentice, warns the apprentice about this unsatisfactory performance or conduct and provides the apprentice with a genuine opportunity to improve, the employer will be entitled to terminate the apprentice’s employment during the life of the training contract – if performance or conduct does not improve.

It is important for employers to understand, however, that by engaging an apprentice they are agreeing to provide that person with the necessary training and support to ensure they can be a productive member for the trade or profession in which they operate. Employers should therefore ensure that they provide the apprentice with every opportunity to successfully complete their apprenticeship and improve in any areas of perceived deficiency.

Ref: HRMonthly September 2015

Career tip of the month

Advice on making flexible working arrangements successful

1. Have a well though-out plan

If you are working from home, consider what hours you will be available online or to take calls; the best way for people to contact you and how you will participate in meetings.

If you are working part-time, for the days that you are not working, consider how decisions will be made: Will you delegate decision-making? Will you be checking and responding to emails? Are you happy to be contacted in emergencies.

2. Keep connected

If you are working from home, make sure you have the technology in place to work efficiently and effectively. Make things seamless for your manager and colleagues – forward your office phone to your mobile and ensure you can connect into office networks. Technology doesn’t need to be fancy – it just needs to be reliable.

3. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Don’t assume people will know how things are going to work. Make sure you have discussed and agreed your plan with your manager, the person who is delegated to make decisions on your behalf and team members.

Take the initiative to check in regularly, particularly early on in the process, to see how things are going and be prepared to make adjustments where needed.

Ref: HRMonthly September 2015

Slaves to the inbox

We need to change our approach to email if we are to take control of productivity in the workplace. That is the conclusion of a new nationwide workplace productivity survey conducted by Human Capital in Australia. The majority of us are at our most productive during the hours of 7am to noon, but waste this high-energy time by checking and responding to emails that bear no relationship to projects that lead to organisation success. Cholena Orr, Director of pac executive Human Capital, says the survey sheds new light “on the degree to which our use of email is harmfully impacting the individual and the company’s success.” Email overload is suffered by 67 per cent of Australians, and each time we react to an incoming message, it takes anywhere between one and 24 minutes to refocus. The advice is to schedule certain times to check emails and stick rigidly to that routine.

Ref: HRMonthly September 2015