Our government recruitment services can provide advice on a wide range of assistance for employers, including:
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Wage Assist—this is a wage subsidy you may be able to receive by providing ongoing work opportunities for people who have been unemployed for a long time.
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Work experience—with the recent changes, there are now more opportunities for short periods of work experience. This lets you assess how well a candidate picks up skills and operates in your work environment.
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Support to employ Indigenous Australians—a range of support services is available to help you recruit Indigenous Australians.
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More child care—since there is no longer a cap on places in long day care and outside school hours care, there are more childcare places available to support parents to work; some employers will also find it easier to set up childcare services on site.
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More training places—your staff can now access more places in vocational and technical education programmes to help with skills development in your workplace.
Workplace flexibility
Necessity–the mother of invention
Employers in the hospitality industry don’t need reminding that the Australian workforce is changing. They are already feeling the pinch of a tightening labour market in which it’s getting harder and harder to find and keep good staff.
Nor do they need reminding of the costs associated with replacing staff. Not only their time and money, but also the loss of experience and business knowledge, lack of consistent service and customer relationships, and the unsettling impact of staff turnover on the workplace in general.
But inventive employers are realising that one key to solving their staffing problems is creating flexible workplaces.
What does 'workplace flexibility' actually mean?
Well, it’s quite simple and cost-effective, really. It’s about tailoring working arrangements to balance the individual needs of staff with the needs of the business.
That way, everyone benefits–employer and employee alike.
Flexibility in the workplace takes many forms and, in the hospitality industry, might include things like:
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Flexible start and finish times
Flexible start and finish times allow employees to vary the scheduling of their working hours within specified guidelines. Businesses can have employees start and finish at different times for a service or shift.
It allows an employee to be involved in working out the start and finish times of their shifts. It can be used to assist employees to meet their study, family or caring needs, and that can reduce absenteeism, increase service coverage and provide staff for hard to fill shifts.
Where employees work together in a team situation, for instance in housekeeping, the team might determine amongst themselves the start and finish times on each day, as long as the job gets done in a timely manner.
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Part-time work
A part-time worker might work a few days a week, a few hours every day, or varying hours spread over a fortnight or a month. Employee pay and conditions should, of course, be provided on a pro-rata basis.
Part-time work is often used to help the employer manage peaks and troughs in business, such as busy lunch hours. Part-time work can also help employees balance work with caring responsibilities or study commitments.
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Job sharing
Job sharing involves two or more people sharing the roles and responsibilities for one full-time equivalent job. For example, this could be arranged so that each person nominates to work on certain days of the week, or the employees divide the daily full-time shift, e.g. one employee works the lunch shift while the other works the dinner shift.
Employees in a job sharing arrangement are entitled to pay and leave entitlements on a pro-rata basis. Successful job sharing requires open communication and commitment from job-sharers and managers.
For employers, job sharing arrangements can increase productivity and help to retain employees who are not able to commit to full-time work, such as employees returning from parental leave.
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Working from home
Working from home, or teleworking, involves working anywhere other than the normal workplace. Employees may telework for a certain agreed period each week (e.g. one day a week, or for a set number of hours each day) or work from home occasionally on an 'as needs' basis.
Working from home arrangements can suit people in a range of job roles, including people in administrative roles (e.g. accountants and bookkeepers) and managers.
Australian and overseas studies show that employers benefit from the increased productivity and reduced absenteeism of teleworkers. For employees, benefits of working from home include the flexibility over scheduled working hours and the savings in travel costs and commuting time.
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Casual employment
Casual employees can be engaged for short periods without a guarantee of ongoing employment, or on a regular and ongoing basis. Casual work can be either full-time or part-time. Casual employees generally receive a loading in lieu of other entitlements such as paid annual leave and sick leave. Casual loadings are set by the Australian Fair Pay Commission.
Casual employment can provide choice and flexibility for both employees and employers. Employers can employ casuals to manage workload peaks and troughs during the week or in a particular season. Casual work often suits full-time students or people balancing work and family commitments who are generally not looking for permanent work.
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Flexible work agreements
Businesses might consider using workplace agreements. Agreements can provide greater working options than under traditional awards and might better suit both the employer and the employee. However, agreements must not breach the minimum safety net and if any protected award conditions are changed, such as penalty rates, the employee must be fairly compensated.
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Workplace modification and job design
'Workplace modification' involves adjusting the workplace either through changes to the physical environment (e.g. lowering a reception desk), or through the supply of special or assistive technology (e.g. a computer screen magnifier), to accommodate staff with various kinds of disability.
Similarly, tailoring individual job descriptions and work tasks allows employers to accommodate people with disabilities.
The Australian Government’s Workplace Modification Scheme pays for the cost of any special equipment or adjustments that are needed to accommodate an employee in a job. For more information visit jobaccess.gov.au or call 1800 464 800.
For more information about workplace flexibility, call the Employer Hotline on 13 17 15.