In this Vlog we look at The National Employment Standards (NES) and what you need to know as an employer in Australia.

The National Employment Standards (NES) are the first item you need to look at for your employees’ minimum entitlements.

There are 10 minimum entitlements. These are the minimum safety net provisions for all employees across Australia. Regardless of whether a person is on a high or low income these minimum entitlements must be adhered to.

Hence, the reason why I say it is the first thing you need to cover when employing people in Australia. Go to https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements/national-employment-standards. The maximum weekly hours are an average of 38 hours per week plus reasonable additional overtime. This is the topic of much confusion. We will cover more of that topic in another series.

New leave entitlements recently included to the NES and other changes you need to be aware of:

There are leave allowances to be aware of some of which are more recent additions such as domestic violence leave. Some people are still confused about personal, sick and carers leave. It is a total of 10 working days which can be for illness, caring for an immediate family member or member of your household. If there is a need to take a day to attend to a personal matter is another leave day that can come from either personal/carers or annual leave.

Annual leave is 4 weeks or 20 days per 12 months which accumulates. It is important to be familiar with the Fair Work site and obtain updates such as on 21 august 2019, the Full Federal Court of Australia handed down a decision in Mondalez Australia Pty Ltd v AMWU [2019]; which dealt with the method of accruing and taking paid personal/carer’s leave.

Consequently, this leave must be calculated on working days, not hours. Many employers and payroll systems had been calculating leave in hours rather than days which is not the intention of the legislation in the Act.

Register yourself with the Fair Work Ombudsman for updates on any changes

As you can see by the changes in the NES Fair Work is not a set and forget exercise. It is evolving, legislative changes, court rulings and social awareness combine to create standards you must remain aware of in business. Therefore, I highly recommend you register with the Fair Work Ombudsman to receive updates. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/my-account/registerpage.aspx Enter your details and you will receive email updates to any changes as they occur or are announced.

Get in touch if you need support with your employees.