Small Business

This chapter describes the processes involved in employing people, explaining the different types of employment, your legal obligations as an employer, the changing nature of the workforce and how you can recruit the best people for your business.

Click on a heading below to begin.

You can also watch videos, listen to audio, download a PDF or start the quiz.

Recruitment

Types of Employment

Employer Obligations

Employee Entitlements

Costs of Employment

Changing Workforce

Recruitment

Australian Job Search: Free services for employers.

If you decide to employ new people, determine what type of employee would be most suitable for the job and what sort of skills and attributes you are looking for in an employee. You should also consider the relevant costs associated with employing new people.

It is a good idea to prepare a job description that defines the role, responsibilities and functions of the position. This can help you to identify the knowledge, experience and skill requirements of your future employees.

Once you have prepared a job description, you can begin to think about how you would like to

advertise the position. There are a number of ways that you can do this; including newspapers, internet based employment sites or through an employment agency.

It is important to note that when advertising for a position, you are required by law not to use discriminatory language that may exclude potential employees on the basis of race, age, sex, marital status, family status or responsibility, pregnancy, religious and political beliefs, disability, gender history or sexual orientation.

Have a solid plan for your interview process and ensure that you ask questions relevant to the job description. Try to access each candidate based on the quality and honesty of their answers, and notify each of them with an answer as soon as you have made your decision.

The success of your recruiting will rely on your knowledge of the process and how well you:

Advertise

Select the right applicants

Interview

Document a formal offer of employment

There are a number of sources that you can visit and research to develop your knowledge of the recruitment process. These include:

Staff Planning Estimators: Used to gain an understanding of the cost of staff within your business.

Business.gov.au: Government website with information on recruitment for business owners.

Types of Employment

The employee categories section of Workplace.gov.au.

The people working within your business each fall under a category of employment. Each type of employment has different obligations for both you and your employees.

You need to determine whether your workers are classed as employees or contractors. An employee is someone who works under a contract of employment. Those who are not employees are referred to as independent or sub-contractors. There are significant differences in a legal context between the two regarding awards, superannuation, insurance and compensation. The ATO provides an Employee/Contractor Decision Tool to help you determine what type of workers you employ.

It is important

to establish the most suitable type of employment for each individual situation when recruiting new staff. The categories of employment are outlined below:

Full-time Employees:

Used where an employer requires a stable and consistent workforce with essential skills, knowledge and experience. Their hours will depend on the type of work and conditions of employment.

Part-time Employees:

These employees work fewer hours than full-time employees doing the same or similar tasks. They have continuing contracts of employment over an unspecified duration with similar conditions to full-time employees.

Casual Employees:

Generally employed for short term, irregular or seasonal work. The essential feature of casual work is that the employee enters into a series of short-term contracts, with no promise to provide work or be available for work on other occasions and no permanent employment entitlements. Therefore their wages usually include compensatory loadings.

Probationary employees:

An employment contract may specify a probationary period. Where the period of probation determined in advance is three months or less, dismissal of the employee during that period is generally exempt from the federal termination of employment provisions.

Fixed-term Employees:

Often employed for project work or to replace employees absent on extended leave. They generally accrue entitlements

such as annual and sick leave. There is legislation related to the termination of fixed-term contracts.

More information on the types of employees can be found at:

The ATO website on determining the status of your employees.

Employer Obligations

Your legal obligations relate to paying correct wages to staff, reimbursing them for work related expenses and not behaving in a way that could be damaging to their reputation or future earning potential. The workplace.gov.au website has further guidelines regarding a number of employer obligations.

As an employer, you have a number of obligations to adhere to including legal obligations, paperwork and records, staff health and safety in the workplace, superannuation and taxation, anti-discrimination practices and insurance.

An employer must also be able to keep good records and paperwork in order to make sound and accurate business decisions. This will help to avoid errors or omissions when paying staff and keeping track of their entitlements.

It is an obligation of the employer to provide a safe workplace that employees can feel comfortable working within. It should be free of physical hazards as well as possible issues relating to employee mental health. Employers should aim to reduce the dangers that their employees are exposed to by following the Occupational Health and Safety guidelines.

Employers may be obliged to pay superannuation to employees based on their type of employment. There are tax regulations that must also be followed that are outlined by the Australian Taxation Office.

Employers must ensure that the workplace is free from discrimination and any other forms of harassment. All staff must have equal opportunity in the workplace in regards to incentives and promotions. This is important not only from a legal standpoint but to maintain good employee relations. When problems do arise, an employer should have a dispute resolution process in place to deal with the issues. You can read about these employer responsibilities on the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission website.

Employee Entitlements

Many jobs in Australia are covered by a federal or state award that outlines the rights and obligations of employers and the minimum legal wage rates and conditions associated with each type of work. These regulations are outlined by the Australian Fair Pay Commission. Some workplaces and individuals may be covered by an agreement that sets out specific wages, entitlements and conditions of employment. The

When the time comes for you to take on new employees, you should be aware of all the relevant employee entitlements. These can range from wages and conditions to holidays, leave, superannuation and redundancy entitlements.

re are also a number of new regulations under the Australian Workplace Relations system and you should visit their website to see if the changes affect you.

As an employer, you are obliged to grant employees certain leave and holiday entitlements. Most workers are paid for public holidays, except for contract or casual employees who are only paid for hours worked. Other paid leave includes annual or recreational leave, sick leave and long service leave.

Each employee's award or agreement will contain information on their holiday and leave entitlements and the relevant pay arrangements. There are also regulations regarding maximum hours and limits on the number of days worked in a row by an employee. These can be found on the Workplace Ombudsman pay and conditions webpage. Workers may also be employed on a written contract of employment which sets out specific conditions and entitlements.

Employees are entitled to superannuation payments from their employer. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) provides information about your obligations as an employer on the Superannuation and Taxation webpage. You can find further information, advice and reporting requirements on the ATO website.

Employees that have been made redundant also have a number of entitlements. These are outlined under the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme.

Costs of Employment

There are many costs associated with employing people in your business. It is important for you to take all of these costs into account during the employment process.

Firstly, you need to consider the time and costs associated with advertising, selecting and interviewing applicants. Depending on the size of your business, type of job and number of applicants, this process can become very involved.

There may also be the need to improve the infrastructure of your business premises in order to employ new people. This includes catering for

the physical space another employee will need and the equipment that they will use to complete their work. Part of employing new people will also involve training and developing so that the person can work effectively within the business and with existing employees.

There is the obvious cost of paying a base salary to your new staff member, but there are also the hidden costs relating to employee entitlements. These include superannuation payments, annual leave, sick leave and public holidays. These costs add up to a significant percentage over the base salary.

For example: An employee's wage is $24 per hour.

Therefore:

Weekly wage = $840.00 ($24 x 7 hours x 5 days)

Superannuation Contribution = $75.60 ($840 x 9%)

Annual Leave (4 weeks) = $3,360.00 ($840 x 4 weeks)

Sick Leave (10 days) = $1,680.00 ($24 x 7 hours x 10 days)

Public Holidays = $60 per hour ($24 x 2.5 public holiday loading)

On top of these costs, you may be obliged to pay for insurance to cover Workers Compensation. Insurance expenses can vary greatly depending on the level of risk in your particular industry. Employing new people also comes with a number of taxation requirements. These requirements vary from state to state so you should visit the ATO page on Employer Essentials.

After careful consideration of these expenses, you can decide whether or not it is a good idea to employee new people. You may find that the additional benefits outweigh the additional costs, or that you are better off leaving things the way they are.

Changing Workforce

Job Access for people with a disability

The demographic of the Australian workforce is currently changing. This is due to a number of factors such as an aging population, labour shortages and immigration. Another significant factor that has changed the workforce is the changes in the attitudes of workers; with the much debated discussion regarding the different generations - Baby Boomers (those born just after World War II), Generation X (born in 1960's-70's) and Generation Y (born in 1980's to present)- and their views on career and employment.

Changes in the workforce mean that employers may need to adapt their recruitment, training and management processes. An example of this is that there are currently a large number of older people either currently employed or seeking employment.

Where employers may have previously looked to younger people as a source of recruits, they may now have to broaden their view to find what a wider range of people have to offer. Many of these people may not have changed jobs in a significant period of time and may require extra training to bring their skills up to date.

There is also a shortage of skilled labour in many sectors. This means that employers may have to take on less skilled workers initially and develop them, rather than simply hiring experienced people. There may even be a need to hire workers from overseas or people who have recently immigrated to Australia in order to fill gaps in the labour market. Employers will need to expand their search to find these people.

There is a move towards working closer to home or from home, particularly with new parents who don't have access to childcare. Employers may find that they need to make this a possible option in order to retain or find new staff. Allowing people to work from home will also make the employer and job more attractive to a wider range of people.

The government has placed an emphasis on the training of young and unskilled workers, indigenous people and people with disabilities. This has led to a number of incentives for employers wishing to take on apprentices or offer internships.

More information can be found here on:

Employer Demand Demonstration Projects

Australian Apprenticeships

National Indigenous Cadetship Project (NICP)

Retaining People

3.3 Career Planning and Progression

This chapter explains some of the key methods you can use to retain your employees; including the benefits of training and development, performance management and becoming an employer of choice.

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You can also watch videos, listen to audio, download a PDF or start the quiz.

3.1 Training and Development

3.2 Employer of Choice

3.4 Performance Management

3.5 Remuneration

Training and Development

of your business and the skills that your staff currently have. It is a good idea to perform some type of analysis to determine your training needs. This will help you to identify trouble areas within your business, what skills need to be improved and help to distinguish the different skill levels of your employees, as outlined on the Training Information site.

As an employer, providing training and assisting in the development of your employees is an important part of being able to retain people. The business environment is constantly evolving, and by providing training, your staff will be more able to keep up with these changes.

Training and development should be viewed as an investment in your business. Providing training for your employees may even lead to greater business productivity, efficiency and quality. It can also help to improve motivation and improve the level of customer satisfaction.

However, to get the most benefit out of training, you should first identify the gap between the skill requirements

Once you have identified these points, you can decide on the type of training your staff will get the most benefit from. Upon choosing a scheme, ensure that all of your employees understand what opportunities and benefits can be gained from the training. Visit Training Packages At Work to find details on individual training packages.

The benefits to you as an employer, is that employees will be better able to complete their tasks in the workplace effectively. The added advantage of this is that it may make it easier for you to retain staff. Employees who feel that they are improving, learning new skills and developing in their workplace are generally more likely to stay on, as opposed to staff with no prospect of training opportunities.

More information can be found by visiting:

National Training Information Service regarding Registered Training Organisations (RTO).

University, TAFE and OH&S training pages.

Business.gov.au skills development and training.

Employer of Choice

One of the better ways to retain good staff is to become an employer of choice. This means that employees perceive you as the employer they would work for even if they were given a choice of having a different employer.

Becoming an employer of choice means that you have a reputation of being a good person to work for. An employer of choice will therefore also have more options when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff. You will be regarded as the best option when it comes to seeking employment and your employees will prefer to work in your business than another comparable business.

In order to become an employer of choice and give yourself more options regarding retention and recruitment of new people, you should aim to offer something that other businesses or employers are lacking in. This may come in the form of better remuneration packages, extra entitlements and higher quality workplaces.

Your reputation as an employer of choice may also be developed by offering training to employees that will allow them to build their skills and knowledge base. You may benefit from visiting one of the websites that offer information on training packages and schemes such as the National Training and Information Service or training.com.au.

Another benefit that you can offer to staff involves providing options for performance based assessment with incentives for excellent work. By recognising employee achievements and rewarding them accordingly you are seen as an employer who takes a genuine interest in the effort that your staff put into your business. It shows that you value their skills and makes them more inclined to continue to work within your business.

However it is important to live up to any guarantees you make when trying to retain staff. Therefore, it can sometimes be difficult to maintain your reputation as an employer of choice.

Career Planning and Progression

Part of the career planning process is identifying what positions in the business your employees would like to reach. This may be within a relatively short or long term period. You should identify who would like to change jobs, stay in the same position, be promoted or change fields and move into something different, such as management. The My Futuresite provides some basic information on career planning and offers assistance to employees.

Career planning and assistance for your employees and options for career progression such as training, development and promotion are factors that can help you to retain staff over long periods of time.

As an employer, you should encourage people to come up with career goals and to plan where they would like their career to head. Retaining employees often involves keeping them up to date with the narrative of the business, providing details of the 'business story' so they can keep realigning their own plans with those of the organisation.

By identifying the goals of your employees, you can determine who should be the focus of future specific training and development. This allows you to better manage your staff and lets you help them achieve their career goals. Staff who feel that their employer is interested in seeing them succeed within the business are generally more inclined to remain loyal to that business. The WA Get Access page has further information on career planning initiatives for employees and employers.

It is important to note that some employees strive on high pressure, performance based positions of employment, yet other employees may like less stressful positions even if they offer fewer opportunities for promotion. The people who feel that they have no chance of progression within your business may seek employment elsewhere. Therefore, it is vital that wherever possible, you try to make sure that people understand what options for career planning, progression and promotion, as well as training and development, are available to them.

Performance Management

When you have determined the performance level of the business and your employees, it is a good idea to offer some form of recognition as a way of thanking your employees for their commitment to the business. There is detailed information on performance management and recognition on the Australian Public Service Commission website.

An important factor in retaining good employees is your performance management skills as an employer and your ability to recognise and reward good performances within the workplace.

Performance management involves you setting goals and outcomes for both the business as a whole and for individual sectors or employees. By setting performance benchmarks, employees may become more motivated as they aim to meet each objective. Generally, employees who have something to work towards are more likely to put in extra effort to meet targets.

After setting your performance objectives, it is important to gauge whether or not your business and your employees are reaching the goals previously set out. This can be achieved through performance audits and interviews with managers and employees to determine if they believe the objectives are realistic and if they are being met to a sufficient standard.

Performance recognition can come in a variety of forms and is part of being an employer of choice. Depending on the type of business and the level of performance you may provide remuneration rewards, award presentations, social functions or promotion opportunities for staff. Further opportunities for training and development can also be offered by an employer as a form of performance recognition. Information on training packages can be accessed on the Training website.

These measures are likely to make it easier for you as an employer to retain your best employees. Staff who feel that they are recognised for their hard work and commitment to reaching performance targets will generally be more likely to remain with your business than those who feel they are just a number.

Remuneration

While a remuneration package is often seen as a way of luring and enticing staff during the recruitment process, it can also be used as a valuable tool for retaining good people, as shown on the Workplace Development Tasmania website. When good performance is recognised, it may be appropriate to have a meeting with your employees individually to discuss changes and additions to their remuneration as a reward for good performance.

The most widely recognised method of attracting and retaining good employees is through remuneration packages. This is because a good remuneration package can have a positive effect on a person's standard of living.

Remuneration refers to money or substitutes for money. This may include wages, salaries, commissions and bonuses, incentive plans and allowances. The total value of all these items is called a remuneration package.

Remuneration packages should relate to factors included in the job description such as roles and responsibilities. Positions within your business may come with different levels of stress, difficulty and workload,

so an employee's remuneration should reflect these differences. Higher level job requirements will generally yield better remuneration.

It can also be used as a method of retaining staff members who have indicated that they might change jobs within the near future. By discussing this option with them you can ascertain as to whether or not a change to their remuneration package would make them more likely to stay.

It is also important to remember that many employees would like to keep their individual remuneration packages confidential. This is a good idea as it can help prevent awkward situations, jealousy and workplace disputes. However you should remain fair and offer similar packages to people who do the same jobs and not base appraisals on discriminatory or personal factors. Information regarding this issue can be found at the Australian Workplace website.

Resolving Disputes

This chapter will assist you in understanding why disputes arise and how you can resolve them as an employer. It also outlines the management of employee relations and the termination of employees.

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You can also watch videos, listen to audio, download a PDF or start the quiz.

4.1 Managing Employee Relations

4.2 Managing Complaints

4.3 Managing Disputes

4.4 Termination of Employees

Managing Employee Relations

For further advice on managing employee relations in your business, contact the Workplace Authority.

The area of employee relations covers a broad range of topics centred on the behaviour and interaction of people in the workplace. It is particularly concerned with the relationship between you, the employer, and your employees. As an employer, you are responsible for managing employee relations within your business.

Employee relations can extend to include situations where there has been a breakdown in interactions between employees, causing disputes and complaints to emerge. It is your role as an employer to have a process in place to deal with these disputes as they arise.

An initial way of being able to manage employee relations is by being approachable to employees. If employees feel comfortable in coming to you for assistance, then problems are more likely to be identified and brought to your attention earlier. The earlier that you are made aware of these issues, the easier they are to solve in most cases. You can find additional information on employee relations at the Australian Human Rights Commission website.

Maintaining good employee relations has a number of benefits for your business. It can improve communication between employees and therefore increase your productivity and efficiency. When people feel that there are good employee relations within the workplace, they are generally more likely to want to remain with the business, therefore improving staff retention.

Another important part of managing employee relations involves training and development. Staff should be made aware of their roles and responsibilities as employees. They should also be made aware of policies regarding discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Workplace training and development is a proactive measure to prevent future disputes and therefore helps to maintain employee relations.

Managing Complaints

As an employer, you are likely to come across complaints made by your employees. These complaints may concern either issues between you and the employee or the employee and their colleagues. The way that you deal with these complaints is an important part of managing employee relations.

Before you are able to receive and deal with workplace complaints, your employees must know that you are approachable. They need to feel comfortable that if they come to you with a complaint, they will be dealt with professionally, and in many cases discreetly. If you make yourself approachable, your employees are likely to come forward sooner, possibly preventing the issue from escalating further.

Complaints may arise due to simple and easily rectifiable errors or omissions on your part, such as a mistake with wages or entitlements. If an error is a result of you

r mistake, you should be apologetic and correct the problem as soon as possible.

Complaints against the employer may be of a more serious nature. This will usually occur where there is a breakdown of communication and negotiations have failed to solve the problem. This may also occur where an employer has intentionally tried to deceive an employee or refused them some of their rights or entitlements. It may relate to breaches of statutory regulations and OH&S rules. An employer can be reported to the Australian Government Workplace Ombudsman or WorkCover Authority.

Complaints of harassment and bullying may also arise, often in the form of workplace disputes. It is a good idea to have a system in place to deal with these complaints in a professional and discreet manner when they appear. Occasionally these complaints may be of such a serious nature that they may need to be reported to the police or relevant authorities.

Managing Disputes

Firstly, you should listen to each side of the argument from each person involved separately. This will allow people to be honest and feel that they are providing information in private. If you cannot, it may be a good idea to bring in an outside mediator so that your employees don't feel that they are at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating a solution. The Victoria Department of Justice website has information on mediators.

As an employer, you are likely to come across some type of workplace dispute. It may involve you and an employee, or between the staff themselves. Some disputes will be of a more serious nature than others, however it is important that they are all dealt with appropriately.

Workplace disputes are generally different from complaints. Disputes usually concern a disagreement or argument between two parties, whereas a complaint is often just to bring an error or problem to your attention. Therefore disputes often have no quick fix and may be more difficult to resolve.

As an employer, you will need to view disputes from an unbiased, objective point of view. This can be difficult if you are one of the people involved directly in the dispute, however it is vital that you are able to look at each issue from both points of view.

After you have heard each side of the dispute and a simple resolution cannot be achieved, you may need to bring the parties together to discuss and negotiate a solution. After careful consideration, it may be down to you as an employer to make a decision and resolve the dispute. This might make you unpopular in the short term, however it may be the only way to allow business to continue.

A way of avoiding disputes involves monitoring the workplace and employees. Through effective leadership and management, you can identify issues that may potentially escalate, and intervene early on to avoid possible disputes in the future.

You can find further information on resolving workplace disputes from the Workplace Authority Advice Line. There is also additional information from the Good Practice, Good Business package.

Termination of Employees

A job or position may become redundant when the work performed by the employee is no longer necessary or required. This usually occurs where an employee's job has been replaced by technology or due to business restructuring. It may also occur where a business is being wound up and will cease to exist. Information regarding employee entitlements upon being made redundant is available on the Australian Taxation Office website.

During the course of being an employer and maintaining your business, you are likely to come to a situation where you will either end the employment of an employee, or they will leave your business. Employment with your business ends when an employee resigns, retires, is made redundant or is dismissed. It is important to understand your and your employee's obligations when employment comes to an end.

Resignation is a right of your employees, however they should give their employer sufficient prior notice in writing. An employee may choose to retire from work and should also give their employer notice in writing.

The other way that an employment can be terminated is through the process of dismissal. However, in order to legally dismiss an employee, you must provide a sufficient reason. The reason may be based on poor performance, inappropriate conduct or changes to your operational requirements.

Unfair dismissal has a number of legal implications. A dismissal is unfair when it is harsh, unreasonable or unjust. There are also a number of tax obligations relating to the ending of employment. The Workplace Authority provides details about the termination of employment. You can also read more about the different methods of ending employment on business.gov.au.

Legal Requirements

5.4 Occupational Health and Safety

This chapter is designed to give you an overview of your legal requirements and obligations as an employer. It covers topics including awards and conditions, superannuation, compensation and OH&S regulations.

Click on a heading below to begin.

You can also watch videos, listen to audio, download a PDF or start the quiz.

5.1 Awards and Conditions

5.2 Superannuation

5.3 Workers Compensation

5.5 Equal Employment Opportunity

Awards and Conditions

Australian Industrial Relations Commission

Your legal requirements as an employer oblige you to provide a minimum award for your employees and offer certain conditions. There is federal and state legislation relating to workplace awards and conditions.

Many jobs are covered by a federal or state industrial award. Awards outline the rights and obligations of employers and the legally binding minimum wage standards for employees. These standards ensure that all workers are entitled to a fair wage depending on the type of work they do.

There are also rules regarding employee conditions. Conditions refer to factors such as the minimum and maximum hours an employee is required to work, general leave entitlements, superannuation, casual loadings and other specific entitlements such as parental or carer's leave.

The recent changes in Australia regarding the Work Choices /Workplace Relations legislation have had a significant affect on awards and conditions. There are new regulations and changes currently taking place regarding the different types of awards that can be offered to employees. Employers need to make themselves aware of these changes.

There is a number of resources available including:

Australian Workplace.gov.au

Workplace Authority

The Australian Fair Pay and Conditions Standard was established under these legislation changes. It outlines the minimum employment conditions including:

basic rates of pay and casual loadings

maximum hours of work

leave entitlements

other related entitlements

The Australian Fair Pay Commission provides further information on legal requirements as an employer.

It may be necessary for employers to seek independent legal advice to assist them in ensuring they are meeting their legal obligations.

Superannuation

have a default fund available for staff. When an employee begins work for you there are forms regarding superannuation which must be lodged with the Australian Taxation Office, available from their website.

As an employer, you have a legal obligation to provide superannuation support to your employees. Superannuation is savings put aside to provide income upon retirement. The purpose of compulsory superannuation is to make sure as many people as possible will have income support when they retire.

Employers pay superannuation contributions into a complying superannuation fund or retirement savings account (RSA). The Australian Superannuation Guarantee legislation requires employers to provide contributions for employees as a percentage of their base earnings. The Australian Government website provides a list of links to help you understand superannuation and your responsibilities as an employer.

Employees generally have the right to choose their own superannuation fund or RSA, however, it's a good idea to

Contributions of at least 9% of base earnings must be made each quarter to the relevant employee superannuation fund or RSA. Employers must keep records of all contributions made to superannuation funds. You also have an obligation to report to your employees all superannuation contributions that you have made.

Certain employees may be exempt from receiving superannuation entitlements. These workers include:

those earning less than $450 per month base salary

under 18 years old and working less than 30 hours per week

those over the age of 70

Refer to the Superannuation Guarantee Eligibility Tool for further information on exemptions as they are subject to change.

There are penalties for employers who fail to provide minimum superannuation contributions for their employees. Employers who lodge late contributions are also obliged to pay charges to the ATO. More information can be found on the ATO website.

Workers Compensation

One of your legal responsibilities as an employer is to provide workers compensation cover for your employees. Workers compensation provides valuable protection to cover loss of earning capacity, medical expenses and rehabilitation costs.

All employers must ensure that they have a workers compensation policy to insure themselves against compensation claims for workplace related injuries. This cover is vital as compensation claims can become very expensive, depending on the extent of the injury and the effect that is has on the workers' ability to perform their job.

When an employee is injured at work, it is the responsibility of the employer to have a policy in place that will cover the related expenses of the injury. A worker may also suffer a loss of earning capacity for either a period of recovery or for the rest of their lives, depending on the time it will take them to return to work.

Workers compensation also provides for expenses associated with assisting employees who are returning to work. This may include training and modification of their workplace and equipment. Employers should be flexible wherever possible to allow employees to return to their old job.

In the unfortunate event of a workplace related employee death, workers compensation will provide compensation to the family. Information on dealing with the Workplace death of an employee can be found at the WorkCover NSW website.

The Workers Compensation Commission can provide you with information regarding the legal requirements of employers. It also has details on what to do if you are an injured employee. Your relevant state or territory WorkCover Authorities have additional information available.

Occupational Health and Safety

obligations. Each state and territory also provides information on specific OH&S Acts and Codes of Practice.

As an employer, it is an essential legal requirement that you abide by the occupational health and safety (OH&S) regulations. If you fail to comply with the regulations, you can be exposed to prosecution and fines.

Your obligations as an employer include ensuring:

Safe working premises

Safe equipment, machinery and substances

Safe systems and procedures of work

Information, instruction, training and supervision

A suitable working environment and facilities.

There are national OH&S Standards and Codes of Practice to help employers understand and meet these

Workplace health and safety authorities in each state and territory and the Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) have responsibilities for enforcing the legislation. They also provide health and safety advice as well as education and training for employers and employees.

It is important for you to note that the legal obligations of employers vary according to circumstances. You may need to seek independent legal advice on what is applicable to your specific situation.

Occupational health and safety standards are not only important from a legal standpoint. It is in an employer's best interest to keep their workers safe and healthy, as it will save costs associated with sick leave, compensation and downtime. There are also substantial penalties for breaches of the regulations, as outlined on the Penalties section on the WorkCover NSW website.

In situations where there has been a breach of OH&S regulations or when an accident or injury has occurred in the workplace, an employee must report the incident to their employer. The employer may then be required to report the incident to their insurer or the relevant state authorities, such as WorkCover NSW. More information regarding your legal responsibilities as an employer can be found at Employer Obligations.

Equal Employment Opportunity