Instant HR Policies & Procedures

F

Welcome

Welcome to your Instant HR Policies and Procedures Manual v8.0. This manual has been designed especially for Australian small to medium sized businesses that employ, or are about to employ, team members or employees.

This manual contains many Human Resource policies in a range of typical employment areas. They provide both Managers and team members with guidance on what is effective business practice, and how to handle common events such as sick leave. Each of these policies is written in plain English and has been tested in Australian companies to make sure they work.

The actual policies adopted will vary from company to company and will depend on size, number of team members, benefits offered, and other factors. A small family-owned and operated business generally does not require as many written policies as a company with a large, diverse workforce. But regardless of the size or complexity of your business, once you hire your first team member, it's best to take the time to think through the policies for your company and write them down.

We have included a wide variety of company employee policies. Whenever possible, we have provided examples to help you develop your own company employee handbook. Make sure that you understand the policies that you choose for your company. Don't just copy these examples without reviewing them, as they may not be appropriate for all situations.

Industrial Relations Context

Because of the complexity of the Industrial Relations system in Australia, this manual cannot provide you with legal advice as to your specific situation. This manual provides you with general guidance on a range of human resource issues. You need to seek specific advice to ensure your business complies with all relevant State/Federal legislation.

Remember, you need to ensure you are in full compliance with your relevant industrial awards or agreements for each of your team members.

To find out the Industrial Award or Agreement that covers you, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman Infoline on 13 13 94.

Other Legislation

This manual will also help you comply with other pieces of legislation, including anti-discrimination, racial vilification, and workplace bullying.

Workplace Health and Safety

Detailed Workplace Health and Safety policies are not included in this manual, given all the specific legislative requirements that are required for compliance. National Workplace Health and Safety Legislation operates across NSW, Queensland, ACT, NT, Tasmania and South Australia. Victoria and Western Australia retain their own systems.

I recommend you attend a Workplace Health & Safety Officer training program within your state or territory to ensure you are compliant for WHS in your workplace.

Workplace Gender Equity

If your company employs over 100 employees, you must comply with requirements in relation to reporting under the Workplace Gender Equity Act. Visit http://www.wgea.gov.au/ to find the specific reporting requirements.

Australian Privacy Principles

Australian Privacy Principles apply to organisations. This HR Manual only deals with employee privacy and general privacy principles. Visit http://www.oaic.gov.au/ for more information.

To customise your manual

A few tips to get you started:

·  Start with a search and replace for the term ABCD and replace it with your company title.

·  I have used the terms:

o  "team member" - you may choose to replace it with "employee", "staff member" or another term appropriate for your company,

o  "Manager" – you may choose to either specifically name a person or replace it with the term "Supervisor" or "Director",

o  "Managing Director/CEO" – you may choose to use the term "Manager" or "Owner",

o  "Payroll Officer" – you may choose to use the term "Bookkeeper" or "Director" (if you are the one who also does the pays).

o  "Workplace Health & Safety Officer" – this is a legally defined role in many jurisdictions, so while the Manager may also perform the role of a WHSO, you need to delineate the tasks clearly.

·  The italicised comments in blue are either instructions for you while customising the document, or provide you with alternate procedure sections. Delete the italicised comments and parentheses before distributing the Manual to your team members.

·  Add in any company specific details such as your business address, business goals and objectives, business locations and key contacts.

·  Review each of the policies to make sure that they reflect your business (e.g.: not all businesses offer staff discount on products).

·  Finally, no manual is carved in stone. Remember to schedule in a regular review of every policy and procedure (usually every two years).

A note on language style

This manual has been designed with your team member as the reader. We have deliberately chosen colloquial and easy to understand English terms wherever possible.

In some policies, we have included a section labelled "Managers Guide". These are addressed specifically to a Manager rather than a team member and are designed to give more specific guidance to Managers on "how to do" a process. You may choose to include them in your main manual or put them in a separate "Manager's Manual".

In the creation of this manual I acknowledge the work of the Fair Work Commission, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the Department of Human Services, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, the University of Melbourne, Beyond Blue, Heads Up, the Quality Care Pharmacy Program, and the Australian Stock Exchange.

If there is a policy that you would like to see added to this manual, drop me an email, and I will investigate options for you.

Styles

We have used "styles" in Word to format this manual.

You can change the appearance of your document instantly by editing the properties of the styles.

If you keep using styles, your manual will have a consistent format and look great.

The manual has these styles:

Formatting notes

In this version of this manual, we have made the following settings. You can change them as required.

·  Heading 1 and Heading 2 paragraphs start on a new page.

·  The page header is always the same as the current or most recent Heading 1 paragraph.

In the manual, sections may break over pages or spill over only a little into the next page. We have left this as it is because you'll be editing it. When you have finished editing, you can adjust the page breaks to avoid splitting topics in an untidy way.

If you paste text from other word processor documents, this text will bring its own formatting. To make your manual look uniform, apply the styles from the table above. If they still don't look right, try selecting the paragraphs and pressing CTRL+Q and CTRL+SPACE. This removes any format overrides. If you use CTRL+SPACE, you'll need to reapply any Character Styles.

Updating Your Table of Contents

The Table of Contents is automatically generated. Once you have finished making your edits, you can easily update your Table of Contents.

·  Go to the References tab of the ribbon at the top of Word (the tabs read File, Home, Insert, etc. across the top).

·  In the Table of Contents group, click Update Table.

·  Choose to Update Page Numbers Only or Update Entire Table.

·  Save your Manual (and remember where you saved it!)

I look forward to hearing of your continued business growth and success.

Regards

Ingrid Moyle

Heart Harmony Communications

Copyright © Heart Harmony Communications 2017

Information in this documentation is the property of Heart Harmony Communications. No part of this documentation can be stored in a retrieval system, reproduced or transmitted in any form of by any means (electronic, photographic or mechanical), recorded, translated, or used to produce derivative works without written permission from Heart Harmony Communications. All Rights Reserved.

Legal Disclaimer

While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication, neither the Author nor the Publisher assumes any responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. This publication is not intended for use as a source of legal advice. The Author and Publisher want to stress that the information contained herein may be subject to varying state and/or local laws or regulations. All users are advised to retain competent counsel to determine what state and/or local laws or regulations may apply to the user's particular business. The purchaser or reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the use of these materials and information. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, federal, state, and local, governing employment, business practices, advertising, and all other aspects of doing business in Australia or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the reader. The author and publisher assume no responsibility or liability whatever on behalf of the purchaser or reader of these materials. Any perceived slights of specific people or organisations are unintentional.

ABCD

HR Policies

& Procedures

Manual

5

ABCD HR Policies and Procedures

Chapter 1: Recruitment & Selection

Table of contents

Welcome 1

Industrial Relations Context 1

Other Legislation 2

To customise your manual 2

Table of contents 1

Chapter 1: Recruitment & Selection 12

Position Descriptions 13

Content of Position Descriptions 13

Recruitment and Selection 15

Recruitment 15

Right to Work in Australia 15

Selection 16

After the Decision 17

Pre-Employment Safety Screening – Police Check 18

Pre-Employment Safety Screening – Police Check & Working With Children Check 19

Referee Checks by Other Companies 20

Unsolicited Applications 21

Privacy Provisions 21

Work Experience & Internships 22

Induction 25

Prior to Team Members Commencing 25

Casuals & Contractors 25

Managers Guide to Inductions: 25

Probation 27

Probationary Period 27

Probation Performance Reviews 27

Re-hired Team Members 28

Probation Termination 29

Chapter 2: Conditions of Employment 30

Employment Type 31

Full-time Team Members 31

Part-time Team Members 31

Casual Team Members 31

Contract Team Members 31

Job-Sharing / Permanent Part-time Work 32

Hours of Work & Rosters 33

Attendance & Punctuality 33

Shift Swapping 34

Timesheets / Time Clocks / Hours of Work Records 34

Flexible Working Arrangements 36

Options for Flexible Working Arrangements 36

Compressed Hours of Work 37

Requesting Flexible Working Arrangements 37

Pays & Pay Records 39

Access to Pay Records 43

Privacy of Personnel Files & Pay Records 44

Team Member Privacy 44

Accessing Your Personnel Files & Records 45

Updating Your Personnel Files 46

Privacy & Confidentiality 47

Intellectual Property 49

Outside Employment 50

Leave 51

Annual Leave 51

Cashing Out Annual Leave 51

Personal Leave (Including Sick Leave, Carer’s Leave, etc.) 52

Applying for Leave 52

Study Leave 53

Compassionate Leave 53

Eligible Community Service (Including Jury Duty & Voluntary Emergency Management) 54

Cultural/Ceremonial Leave 54

Leave Without Pay 55

Long-Service Leave 55

Public Holidays 55

Christmas Closedowns 55

Parental Leave 57

Parental Leave (Maternity / Paternity / Adoption leave) 57

Applying for or Varying Parental Leave Applications 57

During Parental Leave 58

Special Maternity Leave 59

Paid Parental Leave 59

Keeping in Touch Days 61

Dad & Partner Pay 62

Pregnancy 64

Advising of Pregnancy 64

Harassment While Pregnant 64

Safety While Pregnant at Work 64

Transfer to a Safe Job 64

Working Until the Birth 65

Return to Work 65

Breastfeeding at Work 66

Family Friendly Provisions 67

Friends & Family Visits 67

Children at The Workplace 67

Reasonable Adjustment 69

How to Request Reasonable Adjustment 70

Transgender Team Members 71

If You Are a Transgender Team Member 71

Discrimination 74

Appearance & Uniforms 75

Uniforms 75

General Appearance & Hygiene 76

Tattoos, Piercings, Brandings & Dermal Implants 76

Staff Discount 78

Car Parking 79

Travel 80

Use of Private Vehicle 80

Travel on behalf of ABCD 80

Termination of Employment 82

Notice by ABCD 83

Notice by the Team Member 83

Voluntary Resignation / Retirement 84

Team Members Exit Procedures 84

Casual Team Members 84

Termination of Probationary Employment 84

Abandonment of Employment 84

Redundancy or Retrenchment 85

Death of Team Members 85

Certificate of Service 86

Chapter 3: Performance, Learning & Development 87

Performance Review 88

Preparing for Your Performance Review: 89

Learning & Development 91

Types of Development 91

Roles and Responsibilities 92

Managers Guide to Learning and Development: 93

Unsatisfactory Work Performance 95

Unsatisfactory Work Processes 96

Dismissal for Unsatisfactory Work Performance (For businesses with less than 15 team members) 97

Managers Guide to Performance Management: 97

Unsatisfactory Work Performance (For businesses with more than 15 team members) 99

Unsatisfactory Work Performance (For businesses with less than 15 team members) 102

Chapter 4: Behaviour & Code of Conduct 104

Code of Conduct 105

Anti-Discrimination 108

Workplace Bullying & Harassment 110

Definition of Workplace Bullying 110

Definition of Sexual Harassment 111

Actions That Are Not Bullying or Harassment 112

Responsibilities of Team Members 112

Responsibilities of Managers 113

Consequences of Breach of Policy 113

Racial Vilification 115

What is Racial Vilification? 115

Consequences of Breach of Policy 116

Alcohol & Drugs 118

Illegal or non-prescription drugs 118

Alcohol and Prescription Medicine 118

Out of Work Hours Consumption 118