Have you noticed how often you are asking HR-related questions? Questions like these are now commonplace:
- Which Modern Award applies to my employees?
- How much do I need to pay my staff?
- Can I deduct an amount from an employee’s final pay?
Though these questions are common and may appear simple, the reality is that the Fair Work Act 2009 (including the National Employment Standards – NES) and Modern Awards are a complex minefield of rules and regulations. And getting it wrong can cost you thousands of dollars in back payments and penalties. It’s not surprising then, that many bookkeepers & business find themselves looking for HR answers from respected experts in the field. But beware: not all HR systems and support services are created equal! Here are some key questions you should ask before committing your business to a service provider:
1. Is the service built for Australian Employers?
Many international HR service providers set up in Australia and begin offering the same range of systems and services as they provide in overseas markets. That would be fine if Australia didn’t have the world’s most complex employment laws! A system that works well in the UK, Canada, or even NZ will be of little benefit here in Australia, unless the content has been specifically tailored to take account of the Fair Work laws and Australia’s unique system of Modern Awards.
2. Will you be locked in for years?
A minimum 12 month subscription term is to be expected, but contracts which will bind you for between three and five years are, quite disturbingly, becoming more and more common. Before you subscribe to any service, make sure you confirm how long you will be locked in to paying subscription fees. If it’s any more than 12 months, think again.
3. Is the service reasonably priced?
We all know that ‘legal advice’ is usually incredibly expensive. Indeed, this is one of the reasons why subscribing to the services offered by an professional HR and employment relations firms (as opposed to law firms) makes such good sense. So it’s therefore very important to double check the charges for your preferred HR service before you sign on the dotted line. Any service that’s priced at more than $3000 per year should be considerable cause for concern. At the end of the day, the HR service is meant to help – not hinder – small busines, so anything costing thousands and thousands of dollars per year is probably best avoided.
4. Can You obtain Written Advice?
Make sure the service you select allows you to obtain unlimited answers and make sure the advice is provided in writing too, otherwise you’ll become liable when you ‘reinterpret’ the advice you were given over the phone!
5. Who Owns the Service?
We’re used to buying products without thinking too long or hard about who owns the brand, but when it comes to HR services this is a very important consideration. Make sure you choose a service that understands small businesses, and one that provides clear, practical and plain-English answers. There’s little point in obtaining advice if it’s all written in ‘legalese’, or is no more useful than the free ‘advice’ published on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWOs) own website!
