IR time bomb

It’s hard to get entrepreneurs excited about industrial relations laws – it’s one of those things that you don’t really think about until you’ve got a problem.

Of course, that sort of thinking spells danger. If you find yourself facing an unfair dismissal claim in the next few months and have no idea how to deal with it, you’re probably in trouble.

A survey by compliance and governance firm CompliSpace shows Australian SMEs haven’t bothered too much with the new laws.

It claims 47% of organisations with 50-200 employees believe that management does not have a good understanding of the key changes to be introduced in the final phase of the Fair Work Act, including the introduction of the National Employment Standard and the Modern Awards.

These are big, important changes that companies need to get their head around – and quick. As a starting point, have another read of this Fair Work article by Peter Vitale, and this one too.

Entrepreneurs still have a bit of time to get their heads around the latest Fair Work changes, which is good.

What isn’t so good is some other findings from the survey, which raise some serious questions about HR practices in SMEs.

Specifically, the survey found:

– 44% of respondents do not maintain copies of the relevant awards and/or agreements that apply to their organisation.

– 26% of respondents do not have an effective internal communication platform to provide all staff with easy access to current company policies and procedures.

– 33% of respondents do not adequately maintain an up-to-date suite of policies and procedures that deal with general conditions of employment.

Unfortunately, the best way to protect yourself from IR problems is good paperwork – particularly clearly articulated and documented workplace policies and written records of staff dealings (performance reviews, warnings, disputes).

This stuff is annoying, time consuming and hardly productive. But spending the time and money getting it right now could save you plenty of both down the track.