Resources & Tips

This guide will cover paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave that the Australian Government has newly introduced as of 1 of February 2023.

This guide will therefore aim to develop a manager's understanding of Family and Domestic Violence Leave, what it is, how it works and how to handle future situations and conversations with employees accordingly surrounding the newly introduced entitlement.

For organisations with 15 or more employees, 10 days' paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave came into effect from 1 February 2023.
This fact sheet is for employees - to help them understand the leave, their eligibility to apply, how to apply and what is involved.

If your organisation has 15 or more permanent employees (or 15 when you include regular and systematic casuals); as of 1 February 2023, your employees (including casuals) will be able to access up to 10 days of Family and Domestic Violence Leave (FDVL).

The basics of how the leave works:
• Upfront allowance – starts from the date it commences (i.e. 1 February or 1 August 2023), or the employee’s start date with your organisation; and the 10 days renews each calendar year thereafter.
• Does not accumulate year on year.
• Does not come out of personal or annual leave balances (it is an additional cost/leave allowance for the organisation to accrue for).
• Payment is based on the hours the employee would have been paid had they been at work.
• When FDVL is taken it must not be mentioned on the employee’s payslip, nor should the payslip show the leave taken or the balance remaining – this is to protect the safety and confidentiality of the employee.
• Requests for FDVL must be handled sensitively and confidentially. Under no circumstances should a leader divulge to anyone else in the organisation (unless they need the information to perform their role – e.g. payroll) that an employee is taking DFVL or the reasons for taking this leave.

Please find at the link a template Leave Policy, containing the FDVL provisions for you to download and customise.

All leaders in your organisation have a duty of care to ensure the health and safety of their team members. To assist with this, one of a leader's responsibilities is to appropriately manage absences due to illness or injury.

All organisations should, at least yearly, put out an anonymous survey to their team to see how they are feeling and obtain feedback to test the health of their culture and assist with creating a focused 12-month people plan.

The global pandemic changed the way we work, and the expectations of employees with regard to having access to flexible work options.
However, before agreeing to a role being remote, hybrid or flexible, there are aspects of both the role and the worker within the role than need to be considered.

Before you can commence the journey of establishing your business objectives and strategy, you need to understand your perspective on what your ideal business looks like.
This tool assists small business owners to identify what they want to get from their business. You are in business to achieve outcomes for your personal life, so this will assist you to be clear on what these are.

When conflict occurs in your life or your workplace, are you equipped to handle it?

One of the key capabilities of a leader is the ability to effectively manage conflict.

Conflict occurs naturally in and around the workplace. However, if it is not handled well, it can escalate into hostile situations that can have a negative effect on your organisation.

In this resource, you will find a guide to:
- Why conflict occurs
- The importance of having the right attitude
- The 5 keys to effectively managing conflict
- Resolution potential, questions, and checklist
- Suggested ground rules for when managing conflict.

All organisations, whether operating under a health mandate or not, need to take all reasonably practicable steps to keep their workers and visitors safe under the relevant WHS/OHS legislation; and having an understanding of their workers' current vaccination status will assist.
Understanding what records you are legally able to collect and retain, in accordance with the Privacy Act is an important consideration.
To assist you in gaining consent and retaining only the information you need, you can access our template form.
For more information about Vaccination records and the Privacy Act, refer to the OAIC: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/guidance-and-advice/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccinations-understanding-your-privacy-obligations-to-your-staff

Your guide to writing clear, measurable goals that take away the guesswork and subjectivity of assessing performance.

The first 90 days of a new employee's engagement with your business is critical. It will determine their level of productivity, engagement, and likelihood of staying around. A new employee's impression of your organisation starts from before they even apply for a role and their view develops over the course of the recruitment, selection and onboarding process into their first 90 days of employment.

A letter of expectations is most often used for senior employees, leaders, or knowledge workers who have been engaged to deliver outcomes, most often on a salary.

A letter of expectations is generally not considered a disciplinary letter, however, “draws a line in the sand” when an employee’s conduct, performance or actions have not aligned with the expectation of their manager or leader.

It is a way to clearly set out exactly what is expected of them in future and put them on notice that disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment is a likely outcome if they do not make the required adjustments to meet the expectations.