Closing Loopholes Bill – Take Action and Stay Informed

by AHR SupportOct 31, 2023Fair Work, Human Resources, Industrial Relations, View All, WH&S

Workplace investigations are a vital part of maintaining the integrity and fairness of any organisation. When issues arise, it’s important for businesses to act quickly, ensuring that they address concerns in a transparent and lawful manner. Different types of investigations are needed for different situations, each requiring a tailored approach to ensure fair outcomes for all involved. Below are some of the most common types of workplace investigations and when they should be used.

Misconduct Investigations
Misconduct investigations are necessary when an employee breaches company policies or behaves inappropriately. This might include theft, dishonesty, substance abuse in the workplace, or breaches of confidentiality. Misconduct can also cover actions that damage the company’s reputation or relationships with clients. It’s important to act quickly when dealing with misconduct to maintain workplace standards and protect the business from potential legal liabilities.

Harassment and Bullying Investigations
Investigations into harassment and bullying are crucial when employees report or experience inappropriate behaviour. Whether the issue is sexual harassment, racial harassment, or bullying, businesses have a duty to investigate and take action. These investigations must be handled with care, ensuring that both the complainant and the accused are treated fairly, and that the process remains confidential. Addressing such issues promptly not only protects employee wellbeing but also helps to maintain a respectful workplace culture.

Discrimination Investigations
Discrimination investigations come into play when employees feel they’ve been treated unfairly due to attributes such as race, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation. These cases can be complex and require careful handling to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination laws in Australia. A thorough investigation is essential to ensure that all claims are properly examined, protecting the organisation from legal action and fostering an inclusive workplace.

Health and Safety Investigations
When a workplace incident or a near-miss occurs, a health and safety investigation is needed. These investigations help to determine whether existing safety measures were followed and if further action is required to prevent future incidents. Compliance with workplace health and safety laws is essential in Australia, and these investigations ensure that businesses fulfil their obligations to protect their employees.

Workplace Culture Investigations
In some cases, broader concerns about workplace culture may require investigation. This can occur when there are ongoing issues affecting morale, such as repeated complaints about management or widespread dissatisfaction among staff. A culture investigation looks at systemic issues within the workplace and seeks to identify patterns that may be harming the work environment. These investigations provide valuable insights for leadership teams to implement lasting positive change.

How AHR Can Assist with Workplace Investigations
Conducting a workplace investigation requires impartiality, expertise, and a thorough understanding of Australian workplace laws. At Assurance HR (AHR), we specialise in handling workplace investigations with a high degree of professionalism and confidentiality. Whether you’re facing allegations of misconduct, bullying, discrimination, or safety breaches, AHR has the expertise to guide your organisation through the investigation process.

Our team works with you to ensure that every step of the investigation is conducted lawfully and fairly. We help gather evidence, interview witnesses, and provide detailed reports on our findings, making sure you have all the information needed to resolve the issue. By choosing AHR, you can focus on your business while we take care of the complexities involved in workplace investigations, ensuring you remain compliant and maintain a positive work environment. Let AHR be your trusted partner in managing workplace investigations with confidence and care.

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On the 4^th of September the government introduced the Closing Loopholes Bill. This bill aims to close loopholes that exist within current pay and working conditions, with a specific focus upon gig workers. It will also increase penalties for non-compliance and breaches of pay and conditions such as, imprisonment for intentionally underpaying workers.

Employer understanding of these changes is vital and we encourage you to remain informed and to act prior to implementation. Within this article we have outlined a few ways in which you can do this.

Review Worker Contracts

Do a general review of all worker contracts to ensure that minimum standards and conditions are acknowledged and upheld. This is particularly important for businesses that have ‘Regulated Workers’ which are defined as:

‘Employee-like’ workers, who perform tasks via a digital labour platform and road transport contractors. For example, food delivery platform operators and drivers.

Conduct Performance Management Reviews

As this bill poses to implement hefty finds for intentional wage theft, it is advisable that blanket performance management reviews are conducted to ensure that all workers are being appropriately compensated for their workload and that this aligns with their contracted expectations. If a worker is found to be undertaking duties beyond their contracted position, and it can be determined that an employer was aware of this, then fines and criminal charges can be imposed.

Audit Payroll

Start auditing your payroll to ensure that all workers are being paid correctly to avoid wage theft and wage exploitation. Ideally this should be done following a performance management review to account for the current worker duties, ensuring that these align with the appropriate renumeration. If duties have been conducted that extend beyond a workers current contracted description and renumeration, reimbursement will need to be made.

Review Future Labour Hire Arrangements

Getting ahead of the proposed amendments would be advisable for companies that utilise labour hire workers and independent contractors. It is likely that labour hire fees will increase because of the regulated labour hire arrangement orders that have been proposed. Therefore, businesses should review the necessity of labour hire arrangements and consider differing alternatives or budget accordingly.

Increase Awareness of Workplace Safety

Industrial manslaughter will become a crime (for most states and territories) if this Bill is passed, which will mean that employers can potentially face up to 25 years jail if gross negligence can be proven to have contributed to a worker’s death. Employers can get ahead of this by reviewing current Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) practices, increasing overall worker awareness via education and training, and by implementing penalties for non-compliance. Remember, workplace review should be holistic, from the consideration of the maintenance of a safe working environment to the monitoring of overall worker wellbeing.

The proposed Bill seeks to receive a report from the Education and Employment Legislation Committee by the 1^st of February 2024, with potential implementation by early July 2024.

Beyond what we have covered in this article, the Bill also aims to see changes to the definitions and conditions surrounding casual and contract employment, and to boost the conditions for ‘gig’ workers. To read more see our article, Closing Loopholes Bill 2023. As it nears, we advise all employers to stay informed and to act, where possible, to reduce the impending workload and to maintain a position of compliance.

The AHR team can equip you with the advice and tools required to see your business compliant within evolving legislation. We can do it with you, working together to develop an overarching framework that will allow us to identify any foreseeable changes required of your business, working in consultation to implement any applicable changes. Such as, reviewing workplace policy and employee contracts (within the scope of HR Best Practice). OR, we can do it for you, stepping in as your HR and WHS department, developing and implementing a strategy to conduct Performance Management Reviews and Payroll Audits on your behalf, so you can focus upon your business and productivity.

For more information see our articles Closing Loopholes Bill 2023 – What You Need to Know and The Importance of Ensuring you are Paying the Correct Award Rates to your Employees.