Industrial Relations

ASIAL members have free phone access to ASIAL Workplace Relations Advisor, Chris Delaney.  Make the call on 1300 127 425 before you make a decision

Other Industrial Relations Resources for ASIAL members can be found in the Member Resources area of the site, including Award Rates of Pay, Hiring and Dismissing Employees, Disciplinary Procedures, Member Bulletins, EBAs, and more.

Paying wages when the clock changes - daylight saving

How should an employer deal with wages for a shift worker at the beginning and end of daylight saving?

The general rule applied by industrial tribunals is that an employee should be paid by the clock. This means when the clock is put forward one hour, the employee actually works seven hours but is paid for eight hours. When the clock is put back one hour, an employee works nine hours but is only paid for eight hours.

However, a common practice among employers is to have a policy of not treating the employee to their disadvantage in any way by the time changes. This only becomes an issue when the clock is put back one hour at the end of daylight saving. When the employee works nine hours (but is only entitled to eight hours pay), the employer usually pays the employee nine hours pay or gives the employee one hour’s credit or, if the hours are overtime, nine hours overtime at the appropriate penalty rate.

In the absence of a specific provision in the applicable Modern Award or industrial instrument or contract of employment, the employer is under no obligation to pay nine hours pay in this circumstance.

Example: When daylight saving starts
Mohammad is a security guard doing shift work. He is rostered to work from 9pm on Saturday until 5am on Sunday. He gets a paid meal break. The Security Services Industry Award 2010 is silent about Daylight Saving.

When daylight saving starts and the clock rolls forward, Mohammad works his usual shift. While he actually works 1 less hour, he is still paid for the 7.6 hour shift. When daylight saving ends and the clock rolls backward, Malcolm works 1 extra hour but is still paid for 7.6 hour shift.

Contracting resources

In conjunction with industry input, including ASIAL, the Fair Work Ombudsman has produced a set of resources on contracting labour and supply chains.

The following are available to download:

• Guide to labour contracting
• Guide to contracting labour for small business
• Guide to monitoring your labour contracting
• Guide to self-auditing your business
  

Find out more at the FWO website
ASIAL encourages members to use these helpful resources to ensure your business and contractor is compliant with workplace laws. These tools may also be helpful to share with your clients.

Guideline for dealing with harassment, bullying and discrimination

Discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and bullying of employees in Australian workplaces is illegal.

Under State and Federal Work Health and Safety laws employers are legally responsible for protecting employees from harassment, sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace.

Employers should be active in implementing preventative measures so as to reduce the instance of harassment within the workplace through the introduction of relevant policies and awareness programs, including the proper handling of allegations and complaints relating to inappropriate workplace behaviour as soon as they are brought to the organisation's attention.

ASIAL has developed this guideline to provide members, their management and staff with the tools to prevent, respond to and resolve harassment, sexual harassment and bullying of employees.

Download the guideline for the security industry

Further links and resources for dealing with harassment, bullying, and discrimination.

Fact Sheets

Australian Human Rights Commission has the following fact sheets for employers:

• Workplace discrimination, harassment, and bullying
• A quick guide to workplace discrimination laws
• Vicarious liability
• Recognising and responding to sexual harassment in the workplace: Information for employees
• Good practice guidelines for internal complaint processes
• A step-by-step guide for preventing discrimination in recruitment
• Sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status discrimination
• Ending workplace sexual harassment: a resource for small, medium and large employers
• Age discrimination
• Disability discrimination
• Other areas of workplace discrimination

Find links to all facts sheets here

Guides

Ending workplace sexual harassment: a resource for small, medium and large employers (Australian Human Rights Commission)

www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/ending-workplace-sexual-harassment-resource-small-medium-and- large-employers

Effectively preventing and responding to sexual harassment: a guideline for employers (Australian Human Rights Commission)

www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/effectively-preventing-and-responding-sexual-harassment-code- practice-employers-2008

Effectively preventing and responding to sexual harassment: A Quick Guide (Australian Human Rights Commission)

https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/effectively-preventing-and-responding-sexual-harassment

Guide for preventing and responding to workplace bullying (Safe Work Australia)

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/resources-and-publications/guidance-materials/guide-preventing-and-responding-workplace-bullying

Supporting workplaces to end workplace sexual harassment: A Guide for Small Businesses in Australia (Australian Human Rights Commission)

https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/supporting-workplaces-end-workplace-sexual-harassment-guide

Workplace discrimination (Fair Work Ombudsman)

https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/fact-sheets/rights-and-obligations/workplace-discrimination

Bullying and harassment (Fair Work Ombudsman)

https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements/bullying-and-harassment

Other resources

Heads up - https://www.headsup.org.au/supporting-others/workplace-bullying