4 KEY LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN HIRING A NEW EMPLOYEE IN

AUSTRALIA

The laws and policies relating to hiring workers differ from country to country, and it is crucial
to ensure that you comply with these laws and fulfil your minimum obligations as an employer.
You need to consider different things like ​minimum wages in Australia to pay your
employee ​and so on.

The most important piece of legislation governing employment relationships in Australia is the
Commonwealth Fair Work Act 2009 which came into operation on 1 July 2009. A failure to
comply with the Fair Work Act could attract penalties of up to AUD 51,000 per breach.

Assessing job applicants:

Once you publish job descriptions and invite applicants for the positions available in your
company for hiring employee in australia, you will have to conduct a selection process to sieve
out candidates to put through to the next stage of the application process. Throughout this
process, it is crucial that you maintain a ​non-discriminatory approach​in checklist to hire an
employee in Australia. According to the Fair Work Act, employers are not allowed to take
adverse action against a prospective employee because of a protected attribute. Protected
attributes may include race, color, sex, sexual orientation, age etc...

This means that when short listing or selecting candidates, you must ensure that you apply
consistent selection criteria. Background checks of your candidates are generally allowed if they
are directly relevant to the role and the applicant consents to the check.
Making an offer of employment

While you may express interest in hiring a candidate in australia following an impressive
interview, it is good practice to make a formal offer of employment in writing in the form of
an​Offer of Employment Letter.​. Here are the things to look out for​if you are hiring foreign
workers in Australia falls in ​following​category​:

● International student living in Australia.​

● Skilled workers living overseas

Signing the employment contract while hiring employee in australia.

As with the Offer of Employment Letter, once your candidate has accepted your job offer, it is
good practice to put down the employment contract in writing with an ​Employment
Contract.​Employee and employer can agree with terms and condition in by ​signing in
employment contract.

Resources to help you be a better employer

Navigating the employment regulations of any country is understandably a complex and

sometimes nerve-wrecking process, especially when employment laws are subject to change and
unhappy employees may bring action against your company. Fortunately, there are various
resources that you can turn to to help you better fulfill your obligations as an employer:

● Best practice guides​by the Fair Work Ombudsman, an Australian Government agency, to
help small businesses and employees on a range of workplace issues, including
workplace privacy and parental leave;
● Resources and grants made available by the ​Australian Government Department of
Employment​, including ​Wage Subsidies​and the ​Employment Assistance Fund​;
● Employer Hub​provides information on employing foreign nationals in Australia,
including finding and recruiting skilled migrants, visa applications and sponsorship
obligations.
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN HIRING A NEW EMPLOYEE IN SINGAPORE.

Formalizing employment contract

Some of the key points to be included in the contract are:

● Appointment position

● Duration of employment contract, if applicable

● Date of employment commencement

● Remuneration package

● Hours of work

Tax issues for Foreign Employees

● For foreign employees ceasing employment with you, leaving on an overseas posting,
leaving Singapore for any period exceeding three months: Tax Clearance is required for
the above mentioned categories of employees, to ensure that all taxes have been paid by
him/her. As an employer, you must notify the tax authority (IRAS) and withhold all
payment due to your foreign employee from the day he/she notifies you of his/her
intention to cease employment or when you decide to terminate the employment or post
the employee to an overseas location.

Paying levies
● For low-skilled and unskilled foreign employees a Foreign Worker Levy (FWL) is
collected by the government. The foreign worker levy is a pricing control mechanism to
regulate the demand of foreign workers in Singapore. Refer to the foreign manpower
section below for more details.
Hiring students

● For students who are Singapore citizens/Singapore PRs

● For students who are foreigners​: Hiring part time employees and contractual staff

● Part-time employees are defined as those who are required to work for less than 35 hours
a week.

● Contract workers refer to those on fixed-term employment contract as well as those on

casual/on-call employment who are employed on an ad-hoc basis, as and when the
company requires additional manpower.

● Unlike most other countries, under Singapore’s employment laws, part-timers and
contract workers enjoy almost the same protection as permanent full-time employees.

Age restrictions

The legal age to work in Singapore is 17 years and above. However, you are permited to employ
children and young persons aged 13 years – 16 years. Please note that there are restrictions on
the the type of work that children and young persons can perform. The retirement age in
Singapore is 62 years.

Hiring Foreign Employees

● Skilled professionals (e.g. software engineers, doctors, R&D specialists etc.) who are
issued an Employment Pass.

● Semi-skilled professionals (e.g. technicians, chefs, administrative professionals) who are

issued the S Pass.
● Unskilled Professionals (e.g. construction workers, domestic help) who are issued a work
permit, also known as R Pass.