Chapter 8 Legal Processes and Work

LEGAL PROCESSES AND WORK UNIT 8
• workplace practices and regulations p. 195
• legislation and the workplace p. 199
In this unit you

• workplace relations p. 205
will learn about:
• equitable workplace practices p. 216
• conflict resolution p. 220
Congratulations! You have just been offered your first part-time job and will start work next
Saturday. While this is a very exciting time, you are also feeling a bit nervous, especially after
being asked these questions by family and friends.
• How much will you be earning?
• When can you take holidays?
• What happens when you’re sick?
• How do you think the other staff members will treat you?
• What happens if you get injured at work?
• What duties will you be expected to perform?
fi
nd In this unit, you will find answers to all of these above questions and, at the
word
same time, learn about issues related to the legal aspects of a workplace.
In this unit, you will also become familiar with new terms. Find these terms in
BLM the wordfind on BLM 8.1, on the CD in the back of your book.
Workplace practices and regulations

THINKING PROMPT
Have you ever heard of someone not getting a particular job because they were ‘too old’ or ‘too short’?
What about people being bullied while at work? If you were being bullied at school, what would you do?
Who would you tell? If you realised there was a broken chair or desk at school that was unsafe, what
would you do about it?
At school, you would report bullying to a teacher and that teacher would follow rules and bullying
procedures for dealing with the situation. The same applies in the workplace, where there are Any action that aims to
rules in place to protect employees and employers from unsafe situations. intimidate, humiliate or put
a person down
Workplace safety
Places of employment must take certain steps to prevent injury, illness and death of workers
and other people who may visit the workplace. In Queensland, the Workplace Health and Safety
Act 1995 provides guidelines of safety requirements that workplaces must meet. Figure 8.1
outlines the responsibilities of the employer.
ISBN 9780170185653 Unit 8 Legal processes and work 195
08 Nelson Business Education 2E TXT 6pp.indd 195 19/03/10 11:15 AM

DID YOU KNOW? ? Provide a safe system of work.
• More than
500 workers are Provide and maintain
killed in work-related the safety of machinery,
accidents each year. equipment, tools and
• Hundreds more substances.
workers die each Provide information, training and
year due to work- supervision to ensure the safety
related illness. of employees.
• Thousands of
workers are injured Provide managers and supervisors
with training to ensure employees
each year while
under their supervision are safe
performing their
from injury and illness.
duties at work.
Employer p Figure 8.1 Safety responsibilities of the employer
THINKING PROMPT
Considering some of the Did you know? facts above, what are some of the safety rules at your school?
Why do you think your school enforces these rules?
Speak to people you know who have jobs and ask them about some of the safety rules in their
workplaces. Ask them what they think would happen if these rules were not in place.
Employees are also required to accept responsibility for contributing to a safe work
environment. Figure 8.2 outlines these responsibilities.
Comply with instructions given for workplace safety.
Use protective equipment provided by the employer.
Participate in workplace training provided by the

employer.
Do not deliberately misuse equipment provided

for safety in the workplace.
Do not deliberately place the health and safety of

another person at risk.
Do not deliberately injure yourself.
Employee
p Figure 8.2 Safety responsibilities of the employee
Hazards and risks

THINKING PROMPT
Make a list of anything you would consider to be unsafe in Figure 8.3, and explain why it is unsafe.
No doubt you can identify a few hazards in Figure 8.3. A hazard is something with the
potential to cause harm. In the workplace this could mean boxes stacked too high (they could
fall on top of a person), a power point loaded with too many double adaptors (this can cause
a fire or electrocute a person) or something as simple as items lying in the middle of the floor
just waiting to be tripped over.
196 Nelson Business Education ISBN 9780170185653

p Figure 8.3 Hazards in the workplace
There are many different types of hazards (see Figure 8.4).

harassment
• Physical: Dangers or risks associated with physical items, such as boxes, chairs or machinery Any unwanted behaviour
• Biological: Dangers or risks caused by environmental factors, such as fumes, cleaning fluids directed towards
or pollution another that is offensive,
• Psychological: Conditions in the workplace that may have an effect on an employee’s embarrassing, intimidating
physical or mental health, such as harassment or humiliating
Layout of work area Cigarette smoke

Noise Fumes Germs
Machinery
Cleaners
Physical Biological Cleanliness
Appliances
Lighting Solvents
Electrical cords Air-conditioning systems
and air quality
Discrimination
Bullying Psychological Stress
Harassment
p Figure 8.4 Hazards in the workplace

u Work the web
1 Visit the UnionSafe website for an A–Z guide of workplace hazards. Choose three
UnionSafe A–Z of hazards you would like to learn more about, and summarise them. Share what you
hazards have learned with a classmate.
Activity 8.1
1 Answer true or false to the following statements.
a It is the employee who is responsible for ensuring there are safe systems of work in place.
b The Workplace Health and Safety Act provides guidelines for workplaces to meet safety
requirements.
c A hazard is only dangerous once it is identified.
d Poor lighting is a psychological hazard.
e Workplaces should be kept clean and tidy to avoid biological hazards.
f The physical design of a workplace could be the cause of potential hazards.
g It is not the employer’s responsibility to ensure workers are not stressed.
2 What is meant by the following terms?
a Workplace health and safety
b Hazard
c Protective equipment
d Harassment
e Legislation
3 What is the difference between physical, biological and psychological hazards?
4 What is the name of the legislation that provides guidelines to ensuring a safe working
environment? Why is it important that this legislation is in place?
Stress and humour
5 Make a list of physical, biological and psychological hazards you can identify around your
school or home. Explain how these hazards could be minimised.
6 Visit the Stress and Humour website. Select ‘Stress ideas’ from the ‘Free information’ link.
Choose five stress-management ideas that are most relevant to you and summarise them.
7 Go to the Queensland Government Workplace Health and Safety website. In the ‘Safety and
QLD Government
Workplace Health
prevention’ link, select ‘Incident notification’ (under ‘I’) and print the PDF version of the
and Safety incident notification form. Fill in this form using the information in the following scenario.
Scenario
u
Sheree Worrall works as a full-time retail and administrative assistant for Brilliant Backyards,
a landscaping business. This business is located at 245 Logan Road, Eight Mile Plains
4113, and the telephone number is (07) 3841 1122. Sheree lives at 225 Newnham Road,
Wishart 4122 and her date of birth is 13 November 1990.
On Saturday 22 April 2010, at 10:20 a.m., Sheree was walking through the landscaping yard
while talking to a customer and tripped over a hose that had been left lying across a pathway. To
break her fall, Sheree put out her right hand, but the force on her hand fractured her wrist. Her
employer, Jason Standish, administered first
aid and called an ambulance. Sheree was
taken to hospital for further treatment.
8 Identify the psychological hazard in

the illustration on the right. Redraw
this situation showing how the hazard
can be avoided.
9 Read the article on page 199 and
complete the task that follows.

Melinda burnt when OHS program fails
Melinda is 21 years old and has only been circumstance and was told to ‘put it in the
employed by KFC for about five weeks. bain-marie’, a metal bucket-like utensil
Melinda was cleaning a bacon fryer and located on the floor of the area. Melinda
steamer unit. One compartment of that unit then proceeded firstly to empty the hot water
(the fryer) held hot cooking oil, while the from the unit into the bain-marie (under the
other (the steamer) contained hot water. impression it was hot oil) and then to pour the
Melinda, through inexperience, mistakenly hot oil from the unit into the same container.
believed that both sections of the unit When the hot oil hit the hot water it
contained hot oil. She endeavoured to locate started to explode.
the oil drum into which, as she knew, the hot Melinda suffered severe burns to her body
oil was to be poured and later disposed of, but from the exploding hot oil. She was admitted
found that it was outside the premises with to hospital where she received appropriate
the back door locked. treatment, and was absent from work for more
She then asked the cook and restaurant than four weeks as a result of her injuries.
manager how to dispose of the oil in the Source: Labor Council of NSW, YouthSafe
I n a report, analyse and evaluate the above situation with regards to workplace safety,
who was at fault for the accident, and the rights and responsibilities of the employer and
employee. Also include recommendations for future situations related to safety procedures
at KFC. For information on reports, refer to Unit 9.
Legislation and the workplace

Do you think it would be fair that you did not get a job just because of your gender or age?
What about being discriminated against because of your race, colour or family’s religious
beliefs? Over a number of years, legislation has been designed and introduced to protect
workers in relation to a number of areas, including Equal Opportunity, Equal Employment
Opportunity, anti-discrimination, freedom of information and privacy.
Equal Opportunity
There are laws in place to ensure that all people have equal access to jobs and opportunities,
with selection based on merit; that is, the best person for the job. In an Equal Opportunity
(EO) workplace, everyone is treated with dignity and respect, and diversity is valued.
Scenario
u
Imagine you have a job at a landscaping yard. You have been working there for six months
and in that time you have received your forklift ticket as well as your truck licence. You have
shown that you are a hard worker and are willing to go the extra mile.
A chance at a promotion comes up and you apply for it, as does another employee. The
other employee has been with the company for two years but is not very hard-working – this
person often sits inside reading the paper while you are outside working.
You find out that your employer has given the promotion to the other person because
of the length of time this person has worked for the organisation. Do you think this is fair? discrimination
Should you be upset by the decision? Share your point of view with a partner. The unfavourable
treatment of an individual
The decision made in the above scenario does not meet EO requirements, as the person based on an attribute
who was promoted was not promoted on their merits. When employers do not follow EO such as race, gender,
legislation, it is sometimes considered to be discrimination. pregnancy, impairment,
marital status, age, religion
While there are various state and territory EO laws, one of the main EO Commonwealth
or sexuality
Acts is the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999.

u Work the web
Visit the Australian Government Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency
(EOWA) website to find answers to the following questions.
EOWA
1 What is the definition of Equal Opportunity?
2 Why does EO matter in the workplace?
3 Why is it advantageous for businesses to embrace EO?
4 What is your understanding of the term ‘Employer of Choice for Women’ (EOCW)? Scan
job advertisements to find examples of organisations that are considered EOCW.
5 In June 2009, a review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999
was announced. Undertake further research to determine what, if any, changes were
made to the legislation, and why.
Equal Employment Opportunity

Complementing and supporting the concept of Equal Opportunity is Equal Employment
Opportunity (EEO). The EEO legislation addresses both discrimination and anti-discrimination.
Whether you are an existing employee of an organisation, or someone applying for an
advertised position with an organisation, it is illegal to be discriminated against on a number
of grounds, including race, political opinion, disability, membership (or non-membership) of
a union, religion and marital status, to name a few. While states and territories have their
own EEO legislation, the Commonwealth also protects employees and potential employees via
anti-discrimination legislation, including the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the Disability
Discrimination Act 1992 and the Age Discrimination Act 2004.
Anti-discrimination
Green-eye, brown-eye, blue-eye
As a class, divide into three groups based upon your
Further directions for this
activity are included in the eye colour (that is, green, brown or blue) or height
teacher support material (short, average height or tall). Your teacher will provide
(ask your teacher). instructions for your groups for the remainder of the lesson.
At the end of the lesson your teacher will provide you
with some questions to consider.
Being treated unfairly for reasons such as those you discussed in the ‘Green-eye, brown-eye,
blue-eye’ activity is considered to be discrimination. In Queensland, the Anti-Discrimination Act
1991 is in place to protect people in this state against unfair treatment based on stereotypes or
beliefs about these personal attributes.
Discrimination occurs when a person is unfairly treated based on the attributes shown in Figure 8.5.
Age Sexuality Gender identity
Race Relationships
Political belief
Religious belief
Lawful sexual activity
Family
responsibilities
Impairment
(such as sight,
Trade union activity Pregnancy hearing or paralysis)
p Figure 8.5 Types of discrimination

CASE STUDY 8.1
Race discrimination
A female Indigenous Australian with on the ground of race, as she alleged she
considerable experience in the hospitality thought the interviewer displayed surprise that
industry was interviewed for a full-time she was an Indigenous Australian when she
receptionist position with a local hotel. The attended the interview.
woman had previously been employed as a Source: adapted from Anti-Discrimination Commission
receptionist in a five star hotel at a resort. Queensland, case study, ‘Race discrimination’
The woman became concerned
when, after being informed that she was Questions
unsuccessful in her application, she saw 1 Do you think this person has been unfairly
the same position being advertised again a treated?
week later. She became suspicious about the 2 What relevant work experience did the
interview, as she believed she had all the applicant have?
experience and skills necessary to do the job, 3 Would the Anti-Discrimination Act be
and further was told by her previous employer relevant to this situation?
that he had provided a glowing reference of 4 What do you think the outcome would be?
her work performance. 5 To find the actual outcome, access the
She contacted the hotel for an explanation Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland
but could not get one. The woman then website. Anti-Discrimination
decided to lodge a complaint of discrimination Commission Queensland
Case study 8.1 is an example of direct discrimination. Discrimination is direct when a

person is treated unfairly based on their attributes (such as gender). Indirect discrimination
can occur when a whole group of people are disadvantaged by a general rule that might
exclude them. For example, in the past the police force had height requirements that
employees had to meet. As many women did not meet the height requirement they were
not accepted into the police force, even if they had the potential to become excellent police
officers! This one general rule, therefore, indirectly discriminated against a large number of
people, disadvantaging them. The police force no longer has this requirement.
While most of the focus is on preventing discrimination, there are times when it is
acceptable. For example, you may have noticed when you go to the shop that there are
parking spaces set aside for disabled people close to the front doors. You are only allowed to
park in these spaces if you are disabled and have an appropriate permit.
There are also certain jobs or careers with specific requirements that seem discriminatory.
For example, in the Catholic Church, only males can be ordained as priests and only females can
serve as nuns. Additionally, if you are 15 years old and are not successful in achieving a job in a
nightclub, this is not age discrimination because the legal age requirement for alcohol use and
handling is 18 years of age.
p Figure 8.6 When are you protected by the Anti-discrimination Act?

Freedom of information
Have you ever wondered what types of information organisations keep about you, and how
you would go about seeing these documents? Any organisation that keeps information relating
to you must provide you with copies of this information upon your request. This was made
possible by the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cwlth). For example, you might be applying
for a government job that requires you to have no criminal record. You know that you have
never been charged with, or convicted of, a criminal offence. However, the organisation you
are applying to work for needs proof of this. Therefore, you provide the organisation with
permission to perform a background check to find and confirm information about you.
For more information on freedom of information (FOI), visit the Queensland
QLD Govt Freedom of Government freedom of information website.
Information You could also use this Act to undertake your own searches and requests for information
about yourself. For example, you may have been unsuccessful in being appointed to a higher
position in your organisation. If you were unhappy with the type of feedback you received
from the interviewing panel about your application, and wanted to find out exactly how you
were rated, you could use the Freedom of Information Act to request this information.
tax file number (TFN)

A unique number assigned
Privacy
to each individual by the THINKING PROMPT
Australian Taxation Office Take a minute to list the types of information you think your employer needs to know and keep on record
to track the individual’s
about you. Compare this list with that of a classmate.
employment and wage
history
In the list you made for the Thinking prompt activity above, you may have mentioned
performance review information such as your name, tax file number, address, telephone number and birth date.
A review that examines the
work effectiveness of an
These are all legitimate pieces of information your employer needs to know and keep on record.
employee; used to plan for Your employer may also request further information, such as your work history, qualifications
future improvement and any criminal records. During working hours, your employer will also collect and record
dispute
various pieces of information, such as results and outcomes of performance reviews, sick leave
A disagreement or taken, and any workplace accidents and disputes in which you may have been involved.
difference of opinion; in Your employer is entitled to keep all of this information about you – in fact, employers are
the workplace, this refers obliged by law to keep accurate staff records. At the same time, your employer must keep this
to formal disputes that information confidential from other non-authorised employees and other organisations. Some
have been brought to the
information, such as your earnings, is reported to the government or relevant authorities
attention of management
for taxation purposes – another good reason why accurate and up-to-date records must be
maintained.
Scenario
u
Imagine you are a supervisor in your workplace. One of your workers is unhappy about not
receiving a pay rise, especially when he has heard that another employee has just been
awarded a $5000-a-year pay rise. What would you do? There are several options:
a Discuss with him in detail the amount the other employee is getting paid as well as
their sick leave and superannuation entitlements.
b Explain why he is earning the amount he is earning, and also why the other person
has received a pay rise.
c Ignore him in the hope he will go away.
d Tell him you cannot discuss the personal details of another employee.
Hopefully you chose option d, as it is essential to maintain privacy of information in the
workplace.

Privacy in the workplace extends further than the personal and contact details of
employees kept by employers. With increasing levels of workplace theft, and the significant
amounts of money spent on purchasing workplace equipment, many employers now use
a range of strategies to protect their businesses, such as video monitoring of workplace
activities, recording telephone calls, and monitoring saved computer files and Internet
sites visited.
THINKING PROMPT
In pairs or small groups, make a list of organisations where you have noticed the use of these types of
security strategies.
Privacy issues in the workplace can also extend to the personal lives of employees. Under
the Privacy Act 1988 (Cwlth), an employer is not allowed to intrude into the privacy of an
employee. This means there are certain things the employer cannot do, such as force an
employee to be drug tested or undertake a lie-detector test. This is proving difficult with
increased levels of suspicion in today’s workforce, as employers strive to balance the safety of
workers and their right to privacy.
CASE STUDY 8.2

In 2003, Qantas wanted to introduce a Questions
policy requiring prospective employees 1 What would your reaction be to this
to undertake a breath analysis and urine proposed policy if you were a:
test before being hired as well as being
a prospective Qantas employee?
subjected to the same tests any time a
b Qantas supervisor?
supervisor had reasonable suspicion that the
c baggage handler?
employee was under the influence of drugs
d member of an air crew?
or alcohol. The policy also suggested random
e Qantas Frequent Flyer? facial recognition
drug testing of all employees. Qantas technology
also wanted all baggage handlers to be 2 How successful do you think Qantas was in
Specialised software that
fingerprinted and expected all air crews to introducing this policy? Undertake further enables the identification
take part in the trial of facial recognition research to support your response. of an individual based on
technology. the angles and attributes
of the face
Activity 8.2
1 Conduct research on the Internet regarding the process of reporting discrimination. From
your research, develop a flow chart illustrating the process to be followed when resolving
a case of discrimination in the workplace. The following websites may be useful in
conducting your research. Young Workers Advisory
Service
• Young Workers Advisory Service
Anti-Discrimination
• Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland Commission Queensland
• Queensland Government Office of Fair and Safe Work Queensland Government
• ACTU Worksite for Schools Office of Fair and Safe
Work
2 In groups of three or four, develop a role-play illustrating a case of discrimination. Include
ACTU Worksite for
the steps that are to be taken to resolve the situation. Schools

3 Match the terms on the left to their correct definitions.
Term Definition
a EEO i Being able to keep personal information to yourself
b Direct discrimination ii An agreement between an employer and employee
regarding use of the organisation’s resources
c Performance review iii Legislation to ensure people are treated equally in the
workplace
d Privacy iv Legislation to protect the privacy of individuals
e Employee monitoring v Legislation to ensure you are able to access information
the government is keeping about you
f Privacy Act vi Being treated unfairly based on personal attributes
g Acceptable use policy vii Method of evaluating employee work
h Freedom of Information Act viii Employers sometimes keep records of employee’s phone
calls and emails
4 Which of the following situations constitute harassment?
a Sarah’s supervisor often yells at her if tasks are not done perfectly every time.
b Ahmed is disgruntled because his employer regularly asks him to stay back to work on
special projects.
c Mason is partially deaf and his co-workers continually make jokes about his impairment.
d Li’s supervisor continually asks her out to dinner even though she always refuses and
has asked him to stop making these requests.
e Jake is never invited to any staff social gatherings.
5 Read the scenario below and answer the following questions.
Scenario
u
Jennifer, Mitchell and Margaret all applied for the same position as a shift manager with a
local furniture retail outlet. Jennifer is a school leaver with no work experience. Mitchell has
four years’ experience with another furniture company but had to leave for health reasons
as he is extremely overweight (although he has recently lost 20 kilograms and is continuing
on this path). Margaret immigrated to Australia from Taiwan four years ago, and has some
difficulty with the English language. She has qualifications in retail management and two
years of work experience. The organisation awarded the position to Jennifer.
a Do you believe the decision described in the scenario was the right decision?
Why/why not?
b Would the other two applicants have grounds for appeal? Why/why not?
c Which applicant would you have chosen? Justify your answer.
6 Write a paragraph explaining why it is important to maintain privacy and confidentiality in
the workplace. Include examples.
7 Invite your Principal or Deputy Principal to discuss with your class the steps the school
has taken to protect employee and student privacy as well as educate staff and students
about discrimination.
8 Access the Commonwealth Government Freedom of Information website and answer the
following questions.
a Using the information under the section ‘Questions and Answers’, summarise how you
Freedom of Information would make an FOI request.
b Work your way through 3–5 more questions and answers found in this section.
c Back at the home page, select the link to the Queensland Department of Justice and
Attorney-General website. What rights do you have under the FOI Act?

Workplace relations employer association
An association that
In the workplace, relationships exist between the employer, employee, government, unions represent groups of
and employer associations. So which one of these groups decides how much you get employers in areas
paid? The answer is … all of them! Workers are covered by an award or they participate such as legal matters,
enterprise bargaining,
in a collective bargaining process to produce a workplace agreement, both of which aim to
policy development and
provide beneficial working conditions for employees and employers. Unions often help with support
negotiations and decisions about working conditions and benefits covered by the various
awards and workplace agreements. award
A document outlining
For further information on enterprise bargaining and workplace agreements, refer to the minimum working
page 207. conditions for employees
in a particular industry
Unions
Scenario
u
Imagine getting up in the morning while it is still dark, and lighting a candle so you can see
the stale bread you are eating for breakfast. You get dressed and start walking to work.
When you arrive at 5:30 a.m. you start working immediately, not stopping for a break until
1:00 p.m., when you have 10 minutes to have something to eat. Your boss treats you
very poorly and only pays you when he receives payment from customers. The amount of
money you are paid does not go far – you are only 14 years old and don’t earn much, but
had to start working to help support the family. You work six days a week and do not get
any holidays. You finish work at 7:00 p.m. and begin the walk home in the dark. You have a
small dinner, go to bed and get up early the next morning to repeat the process.
The scenario above describes a typical day in the life of a worker in the 1800s, before unions
were formed. In the 1850s, many small groups of tradespeople came together with the aim of
improving their working conditions. This marked the beginning of an era – the era of the trade
union. Since that time, many more groups of workers representing different industries have
each created their own union. These unions worked towards establishing improved conditions
for employees, most of which we take for granted today. Such improvements include:
• greater workplace health and safety
• maternity and paternity leave
• the eight-hour day
• paid annual leave
• equal pay for equal work
• paid sick leave
• legal representation for work-related issues
• long service leave.
The main purpose of unions is to ensure workers receive what they are entitled to and are
unionism
treated fairly. Joining a union is voluntary and everyone has the right to do so, no matter who The practice whereby
their employer is. While some employers might discourage unionism, they cannot stop their employees join and are
employees from joining and must not treat union members differently from other employees. involved with a union
As well as providing advantages in your working life, unions can also assist you in your
personal life. Union members can enjoy:
• cheaper health care
• cheaper insurance
• discounted movie tickets
• discounted entry to theme parks
• access to the Union Shopper, which finds members great deals on retail items.

Being a union member, however, is not without
some disadvantages. For example, members must pay
yearly fees, which can sometimes add up to hundreds
of dollars (depending on your earnings). These fees,
however, allow the union to continue operating and
representing its members.
When unions and employers cannot come to
an agreement about work conditions, the union
sometimes asks its members to strike (Figure 8.7),
which means members stop working to show the
employer they want their requests taken seriously.
The disadvantage of strikes is that the workers do not
get paid for loss of work time during a strike. It can
also damage the relationship between the worker and
the employer. Additionally, some situations can occur
where the union takes control of all negotiations,
leaving the workers without the final say.
Despite these disadvantages, unions have played,
and continue to play, a significant role in the history
p Figure 8.7 Teachers on strike of the Australian workforce.
National employment standards and

modern awards
In January 2010, the National Employment Standards (NES) came into effect. At the very heart
of these standards is the ‘safety net’ assurance that all employees are protected by minimum
pay and conditions.
There are 10 National Employment Standards, as outlined in Figure 8.8.
Parental leave and

related entitlements
Personal/carers’/
compassionate leave
Community service leave
Maximum weekly
National Annual leave
hours of work
Employment
Standards
Public holidays
Long service leave
Right to request flexible Notice of termination

working arrangements and redundancy pay
A ‘Fair Work Information Statement’
for all employees that explains their rights and entitle-
ments under the new system
and how to get advice and help
p Figure 8.8 National Employment Standards

Complementing the National Employment Standards, and the second part of the ‘safety
net’, are modern awards, also introduced in January 2010. These modern awards have the
10 National Employment Standards embedded within them, and can also include up to another
10 minimum conditions of employment that are tailored to the needs of a specific industry or
occupation. For example:
 minimum wages
 types of employment
 arrangements for when work is done
 overtime and penalty rates
 annual wage or salary arrangements
 allowances
 leave-related matters
 superannuation
 procedures for consultation, representation and dispute settlement
 outworker terms
 certain industry-specific redundancy schemes
 calculating ordinary hours
 pieceworker provisions
 variations of allowances.
THINKING PROMPT
There are some employees who are not covered by modern awards. In a small group, discuss which types of
employees may not be covered.
Now access Fair Work Online. Find ‘Employees’, then ‘The new Fair Work system’ to find out more about
Fair Work Online
who is, and isn’t, covered by modern awards.
Enterprise agreements
Sometimes awards do not meet the needs of a particular workplace. For example, a large
supermarket chain wanting to attract high-quality job applicants may decide to offer better
conditions and entitlements than its competitors who have adopted only minimum modern
award standards. In this situation, the employer would enter into an enterprise agreement
with its employees about their terms and conditions of employment.
An enterprise agreement can address a wide range of matters, including:
• rates of pay
• employment conditions, such as hours of work, meal breaks and/or overtime
• consultative mechanisms
• dispute resolution procedures
• deductions from wages for any purpose authorised by an employee.
THINKING PROMPT
There are three types of enterprise agreements.
• Single-enterprise agreements
• Multi-enterprise agreements
• Greenﬁ elds agreements
Divide the class into three groups. Each group is assigned one type of enterprise agreement, and is
responsible for discussing and deciding upon an explanation/reason for this agreement. When your group
has a ‘working definition/reason’ for this agreement, access Fair Work Online again. Find ‘Agreements’

(‘Employees’ > ‘Pay, leave and conditions’ > ‘Agreements’) to undertake further research on your allocated
enterprise agreement. How close was your group to a plausible definition/explanation of this agreement? Make
changes where necessary, and then take turns explaining your type of enterprise agreement to the other groups.
Rights and responsibilities of employees and

employers
Starting a new job can be very exciting, especially if it is your first job. However, before you
rights
Entitlements that start your new job you need to know what to expect in the workplace. As an employee, you
employers and employees will have certain rights and responsibilities. In turn, your employer will have expectations
can expect to receive of you as well as an obligation to meet certain responsibilities.
responsibilities
Expectations that Rights of employees
employers and employees When entering a contract of employment, an employee has rights; for example, the right to be
must meet paid the correct wage on a regular basis. These rights are linked to industry awards. Figure 8.9
shows some employee rights.
Rosters
Hourly rates
Leave
Hours of work
Overtime Superannuation
Meal break allowance Duties to be undertaken
Leave loading Notice for dismissal or redundancy

Insurance
p Figure 8.9 Some employee rights
Responsibilities of employees
diligence While you should expect that your rights are met in the workplace, you will also have
Being attentive and taking
expectations placed on you. These are your responsibilities as an employee in the workplace.
care to do things properly
Figure 8.10 shows some employee responsibilities.
Display diligence
Follow the duty of good faith Respect the rights of others
Follow reasonable orders Display due care
Use safety requirements provided Work safely

p Figure 8.10 Some employee responsibilities

Rights of employers
The responsibilities of an employee are the mirror image of the rights of an employer. The
employer has the right to expect that an employee will take care in the workplace, maintain
a safe working environment, respect other employees, follow reasonable directions and show
good faith towards the business. Figure 8.11 shows some other employer rights.
Expect employees to be diligent
Expect employees to show Expect employees to respect

good faith other employees
Expect employees to follow Expect employees to display

reasonable orders due care
Expect employees to use safety Expect employees to work safely

requirements provided
p Figure 8.11 Some employer rights
Responsibilities of employers
An employer has the responsibility to ensure all of their employees’ rights are met.
These include applying the 10 National Employment Standards outlined in the award
as well as providing a safe working environment. For more information on rights and
responsibilities, visit the ACTU Worksite for Schools website again. ACTU Worksite for
Schools
Types of work
Scenario
u
Sameera is single, 25 years Sam is married and has two Kristie is a Year 11 student
old and has a Bachelor of children. His wife works long and wants to earn some extra
Business degree majoring in hours as a web page designer. money in order to go out with
marketing. Her financial goals He likes the extra money he friends, save for a car and
are to purchase a new car receives for working, but does purchase clothes. She wants
and a house, and to live not want to work too many her working hours to be flexible
comfortably throughout life. hours because he wants to so she can work fewer hours
spend time with the children. during exam time and when
Generally he only wants to work assignments are due, and work
two or three days per week. more hours during the holidays.
In the previous scenario, Sameera, Sam and Kristie are each in different situations.
Therefore, their needs require their respective careers or jobs to be flexible. This flexibility can be
provided through a variety of work arrangements, which may include paid work or unpaid work.

Paid work
The majority of workers in Australia are involved in paid work. This means that they receive
leave entitlements
money (remuneration) for the duties they undertake. When a person is employed in a paid
Entitlements regarding
time away from work, position by an organisation, a contract of employment is usually signed. This contract states
given to an employee by various conditions of the agreement, such as leave entitlements, duties to be undertaken,
an employer; includes pay rates, and the amount of notice required when the employee resigns.
provisions such as sick Pay rates vary between jobs, employers and industries. The government has set out the
leave, holiday pay and
minimum pay rates for each industry and these are detailed in an award.
leave loading
Paid work applies to full-time, part-time and casual employment arrangements.
Full-time employment
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the majority of the paid workforce
participates in full-time working arrangements (see Table 8.1).
Table 8.1
Total paid workforce Full-time workforce Percentage of paid workforce
9 450 680 6 552 181 69%
Source: Australia at Work: The Benchmark Report, 2007
Full-time employment generally means the employee is required to work a minimum of

38 hours per week, but this can vary depending on the award. This should usually be on any five
consecutive days in the week and between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., from Monday to Sunday.
Full-time employees who work on a Saturday or Sunday are paid overtime rates; that is, an
extra amount that employees are paid for working outside normal working hours. Depending
on the award, this is usually paid at time-and-a-half (150 per cent of the normal hourly rate)
for the first three hours and double-time (200 per cent of the normal hourly rate) for every
hour thereafter. All overtime worked on a Sunday is paid at double-time.
THINKING PROMPT
If Tracey, a full-time employee, is paid $18.00 per hour, what would her rate of pay be for time-and-a-half?
What about double-time? Tracey has worked a 46-hour week. Of this, 38 hours is paid at the normal rate,
three hours at time-and-a-half, and five hours at double-time. Calculate Tracey’s total wage for the week.
Hint: To calculate time-and-a-half, multiply the normal rate by 1.5. To calculate double-time,
multiply the normal rate by 2.
Full-time workers are also entitled to paid annual leave (that is, annual holidays), sick
leave, long-service leave and parental leave. When an employee takes annual leave, they
are also entitled to be paid leave loading (Figure 8.12), which is an
17% leave loading on wage of $500 extra percentage of their wage paid on top of their normal pay.
600 Of the people in our scenario, a full-time position would best
Leave loading suit Sameera, as she has no commitments to prevent her working
500 a 38-hour week and her financial goals require her to earn a full-
time wage.
400
Part-time employment
Amount ($)
300 When employees work an average of less than 38 hours per week
Normal pay but work regular hours on a continuing basis, they are considered
200 part-time employees. Part-time workers usually work more than
10 hours per week but less than 32 hours per week. They still
100 receive the same paid entitlements as a full-time worker (such as
paid annual leave and sick leave) but these are awarded on a
0 sliding scale depending on the number of hours the part-time
p Figure 8.12 Leave loading employee works.

Scenario
u
Every week Sam works at a video store on Monday for six hours, Wednesday for six hours
and Saturday for four hours – a total of 16 hours. This is a fraction of the hours a full-time
employee would work, so Sam is considered to be a part-time permanent employee.
Sam is ready to take a holiday and would like to know how much annual leave he is
entitled to. To calculate this, we first need to know how many hours a full-time employee
would work in a year. We work this out based on a 48-week year, as full-time employees are
entitled to four weeks’ annual leave.
38 hours per week × 48 weeks per year = 1824 hours per year
Therefore, over the course of 12 months a full-time employee would work 1824 hours.
We now need to calculate how many hours Sam has worked over the course of a year.
Monday (6 hours) + Wednesday (6 hours) + Saturday (4 hours) = 16 hours per week
16 hours per week × 48 weeks per year = 768 hours per year
Based on 48 weeks (taking four weeks’ annual leave into consideration) Sam has
worked 768 hours for the year. This needs to be worked out as a percentage (or pro rata) of
a full-time workload.
768 ÷ 1824 × 100 = 42%
Sam has worked 42 per cent of a full-time workload. According to the award for Sam’s
industry, full-time employees are entitled to four weeks’ (20 days) annual leave per year.
Therefore, Sam is entitled to 42 per cent of this: a total of 8.4 days (20 days × 42%).
Of the people in our original scenario, part-time work would best suit Sam as it would
allow him to work a few days a week on a regular basis.
Casual employment
THINKING PROMPT
Tran works at a local restaurant. His award states that he is entitled to $10 per hour at an ordinary rate of
pay. Tran is a casual worker and the award states he is therefore entitled to an extra 23 per cent. What is
his new rate of pay?
In casual employment, the hours worked are flexible and may vary from week to week based
on negotiations between the employer and the employee. Casual employees must work for
more than two hours but fewer than 32 hours in any given week.
The hours worked and the pay rate applied depends on the particular industry award.
However, casual workers are not entitled to other paid provisions, such as annual leave or sick
leave. In lieu of this, employees are paid a higher rate per hour. This amount is calculated by
adding between 19 and 35 per cent of the hourly rate in addition to the normal rate of pay
(again, depending on the award).
Unlike full-time or part-time work, casual work does not provide the security of on-going
employment.
Of the people in our original scenario, casual work is best suited to Kristie, as her hours
can vary and she does not need any annual leave because she wants to work extra hours
during school holiday time.
Unpaid work
Many people in our society take part in unpaid work in some way or another. Unpaid work can
be divided into two broad types: domestic work and volunteer work. Unpaid domestic work
can take the form of caring for children at home, caring for an invalid or sick relative, or other
domestic duties such as housekeeping.

Volunteer or community work includes working for charities (such as the Red Cross),
community organisations (such as Meals on Wheels, the Smith Family and the State Emergency
Service), or completing volunteer work in hospitals and schools or with sporting clubs. Many
of these organisations would not be able to operate without the help of volunteers because,
without them, there would be a heavy financial burden on society.
The benefits of unpaid work vary depending on the individual situation.
DID YOU KNOW? ?

Australians aged 55
and over contribute
almost $74.5 billion
each year in unpaid
caring and voluntary
work.
p Figure 8.13 Unpaid work can be very rewarding.
Work experience is also a type of unpaid work, as services are provided free of charge.
A person undertaking work experience gains the benefits of learning about the industry
and, in turn, this experience may help to secure a job in the future. Work experience is
different from trial work, which occurs when a business would like to employ someone and
asks them to demonstrate their skills first. Any trial work completed should be paid at the
appropriate rate.
Activity 8.3
1 Visit the ACTU Worksite for Schools website again and find the ‘Union Match’ section.
For the following jobs, find out how to become qualified, the typical starting wage and
ACTU Worksite for
Schools the applicable award, as well as the name and website of the relevant union.
a Actor
b Bricklayer
c Dancer
d Fast food worker
e Jeweller
f Job of your choice
2 For each of the following statements, fill in the blanks with appropriate terminology.
a A _________ brings together groups of workers to represent an industry.
b When employees stop work with the aim of improving conditions they go on
__________.
c A document that outlines the minimum conditions for an industry is called an
__________.
d The process of negotiating working arrangements and conditions is called
___________.

e Workers who are not covered by an award are considered to be __________ workers.
f In the workplace, both employees and employers have a range of __________ and
responsibilities.
g __________ aims to reduce the burden of pensions after retirement.
h Employees are required to follow _________ directions from the employer.
i When being paid for annual leave, employees receive leave _________.
j Employees whose work hours vary, but work more than two hours and fewer than
32 hours per week are considered to be ___________ workers.
3 Conduct Internet research to discover the important achievements in the history of unions
in Australia. Present your findings as a timeline.
4 Debate this statement: ‘Due to the achievements of unions in the past, working conditions
are now satisfactory and unions are no longer needed.’
5 What is a modern award, and why is a modern award important in the workforce?
6 a Choose a job that you may like to pursue when you are in Year 11 or 12 (or after you
leave school). Obtain a copy of the relevant award from Fair Work Online. (From the
‘Employees’ section, select ‘Pay, leave & conditions’. Find the award you think would
cover your job.) Fair Work Online
b From the award for your chosen job, find the following information.
i The title of the award
ii The number of hours considered to be an ordinary working week
iii The maximum number of ordinary hours to be worked in one day
iv The overtime rates and when they apply
v For part-time workers, the weekly minimum and maximum numbers of hours that
can be worked
vi For casual workers, the number of weekly minimum hours
vii The pay rate for a junior worker, if applicable (that is, one who is 15 years old)
viii The pay rate for a 21-year-old
ix Any leave entitlements available
c From the information collected, calculate how much a part-time worker who is 21 years
old would receive for working a 20-hour week.
d From the information collected, calculate how much a casual worker who is 15 years
old would receive for working a 15-hour week.
7 a Which employee responsibility would you rate as the most important, and why?
b Which employer responsibility would you rate as the most important, and why?
8 Define the term ‘superannuation’. Explain why employers must provide superannuation
benefits for their employees.
9 You are a permanent part-time worker at a local restaurant. Rosters are done on a
day-by-day basis and you usually find out the night before whether or not you are
working the next day.
Whenever you have worked 30 hours your employer pays you for your work in
cash. You do not receive a pay slip and the amount you are paid varies depending on
how busy the restaurant has been. Some weeks you do not receive any hours, while
other weeks you work up to 40 hours in the week. Your duties are supposed to be
restricted to serving customers but quite often you are also required to do some work
in the kitchen involving electrical appliances (even though you have not received
any training for these tasks). Recently, you were delayed at school and did not
arrive at work on time. Your employer was quite upset and has reduced your pay as a
consequence.
a Are any of your rights as an employee not being met? Explain.
b Explain whether you have met all of your responsibilities as an employee.
c What action, if any, should you take? Justify your response.

10 In small groups, develop the following role-plays.
a Create a workplace where all of the rights and responsibilities of both employees and
employers are being met. Act out a snippet of a typical day in this workplace.
b Create a workplace where the rights of an employee are not being met by the employer.
Act out a scenario from this workplace. At the conclusion of your role-play, explain
why it is important that the employee’s rights are met.
c Create a workplace where the rights of the employer are not being met by employees.
Act out a scenario from this workplace. At the conclusion of your role-play, explain
why it is important that the employer’s rights are met.
11 Read the article below and answer the questions that follow.
Ballarat workers have their say on global financial

crisis and job security
A group of workers recently laid off or retrenched entitlements if a company goes bust,’
due to the global financial crisis will today have Ms Burrow said.
the opportunity to tell their stories and call for ‘Companies and workers in Ballarat have
more protection of workers’ entitlements, at a been hit hard by the global financial crisis, so
jobs and work discussion with ACTU President it makes sense for us to come here and speak
Sharan Burrow and the Secretary of the Ballarat to workers directly.
Trades and Labor Council, Graeme Shearer. ‘As representatives of workers, it is the job
It is estimated that more than 500 of unions to work with companies and figure
manufacturing jobs have been lost in Ballarat out ways to prevent job losses. Where that
since late last year. The central Victorian is not possible, unions are seeking a better
city has an unemployment rate of more scheme to guarantee workers’ entitlements.’
than 8%, among the highest in the state. A Security of Work policy endorsed by
Since November, several companies in this the recent ACTU Congress proposes a range of
region have gone under or laid people off. policy solutions to keep people in employment
Additionally, about 200 workers at the Ballarat and to protect incomes during economic
gold mine lost their jobs recently. downturns.
‘Unions are at the forefront of protecting Source: ACTU media release, 6 July 2009
jobs and making sure workers don’t lose their
a Why would a global financial crisis affect jobs in regional cities in Australia?
b What entitlements do employees have owing to them if they lose their job?
c Describe how a person and their family would be affected by the loss of a full-time
income.
d Prepare a role-play about a possible meeting between the owners and managers of a
struggling company and a group of workers’ representatives. How would you change
the script to get two different outcomes from the meeting?
12 Calculate the rate of pay for each of the following employees.
a Dennis is a full-time worker (38 hours per week) and is paid at a rate of $8.20 per
hour. Calculate his pay for one week.
b Marea is a part-time worker (16 hours per week) and is paid at a rate of $9.20 per
hour. Calculate her pay for one fortnight.
c Christine is a casual worker and receives a loading of 21 per cent. The standard rate of
pay (full-time worker) is $17.35 per hour. Calculate Christine’s pay for the week based
on 27 hours.
d Josh is a full-time worker and has worked his usual 38 hours plus two hours at time-
and-a-half and four hours at double-time. His ordinary rate of pay is $12.70 per hour.
Calculate his wage for the week.

e Marissa is a part-time worker who works 14 hours every week and is paid at a rate of
$14.20 per hour. She has worked every week for 48 weeks and is taking annual leave.
Calculate how many days she is entitled to take as annual leave, as well as the pay she
will receive for this. She will also receive a 17.5 per cent leave loading on her holiday pay.
13 Charlie has been working for Northern Pet Supplies for just over three years and he has
no intention of leaving in the near future. Charlie works 15 hours most weeks but, on the
rare occasion, he can sometimes work up to 20 hours if his employer needs extra help.
He always works Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Charlie has been considered a casual
worker since he started with the organisation and is paid $15 per hour plus 19 per cent
leave loading.
a Charlie has asked you to give him advice regarding the following points.
i What are his rights as a casual worker?
ii What is his hourly rate when leave loading is added?
iii If he asked to be made part-time, what difference would this make (if any) to his
entitlements?
b Charlie is interested in taking a holiday next year. If he worked 15 hours per week for
24 weeks on a part-time basis, how much annual leave would he be entitled to?
c Make a recommendation to Charlie as to whether you think he should be a casual or
part-time worker. Justify your recommendation with logical reasons.
14 a Explain what work experience is.
b What advantages do you see in completing work experience?
15 Copy and complete the table below by filling in as many advantages and disadvantages
that you can think of for each type of work. Also include an example of a typical job that
you are interested in for each type of work.
Type of work Advantages Disadvantages

Full-time work
Part-time work
Shift work
Work experience
Voluntary work
16 Research types of volunteer work in your local community that you could participate in
outside school hours. State the name of the organisation as well as the duties involved.
Describe what the benefits would be for the community if you were to volunteer your
services to this organisation.
17 Conduct a class debate on what type of work you feel is most valued in our society: full-
time, part-time, casual or volunteer.
18 Research what types of awards or enterprise agreements apply to each of the following
industries.
a Retail
b Teaching
c Law
d Construction
e Performing arts
f Manufacturing
g Office administration myfuture
Career One
19 Choose a job or career that you are interested in pursuing after you leave school. Research
DEEWR Job Guide
the working conditions of this career through media such as the Internet, newspapers,
DEEWR: Year 12 – what
job guides and interviews. Present your findings in an oral presentation. The following next?
websites may assist you in your research.

• myfuture
• CareerOne
• Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) Job Guide 2009
• Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations: Year 12 – what next?
For further information on preparing an oral presentation, refer to Unit 9.
Equitable workplace practices

When applying for a job or when working, you and your employer both need to ensure
there is equity in the workplace. This begins with abiding by anti-discrimination and Equal
Employment Opportunity legislation in areas such as advertising jobs, employing trainees and
apprentices, and dismissing employees.
For further information on workplace legislation, refer to page 199.
Job advertisements
We have seen that workplaces cannot discriminate against you because of factors such as age,
gender, race or religion. However, how can they ensure the ‘right’ people apply for the job?
u Work the web

1 With a partner, write down points from the POSITION VACANT
advertisement at the right that you think
Seek
should be changed, and explain why.
PANEL BEATER
CareerOne Medium-sized company seeks a full-time panel beater with
2 Find two other examples of
a minimum of two years’ experience. The potential employee
advertisements that you believe require
should be a male aged between 17 and 19. Licence essential.
changes, and justify your reasoning.
Telephone Rod on (07) 54212312 for an interview.
The websites for Seek and CareerOne can
be useful.
Advertisements should not state a preference for a female or male applicant unless there
are specific legal requirements of the job that allow this discrimination; for example, a Catholic
priest can only be a male.
Age can only be specified when the position is specifically designed for a person of a
particular age and this is listed as part of an award. For example, a business can advertise for
a ‘junior receptionist’ – junior meaning ‘a person under the age of 21’. However, the position
must be specifically designed for a junior and must pay junior award rates only.
The advertisement in the previous example is seeking a male between the ages of 17 and
19 but the position is not listed as ‘junior’. It does state that a licence is essential, which
means the position could not be given to someone younger than 17.
However, a requirement of a minimum two years’ experience means that any appli
cant would have had to have started work between the ages of 15 and 17. Since it takes
approximately four years to complete an apprenticeship as a panel beater, it is more likely
that an experienced panel beater would be at least 19 years old (provided the applicant
started the apprenticeship at the age of 15).
When you accept a job, you agree to perform certain duties. Whenever a position is
advertised, it is the organisation’s responsibility to ensure the duties and conditions are
outlined clearly and accurately to the applicant before they accept the position. If the
employee begins work and finds that the duties or conditions are not what was initially
discussed, action could be taken against the organisation.
Sometimes a situation may occur where the organisation conducts interviews and then
decides the best person for the job already works for them. This internal applicant can be
appointed to the advertised position.

THINKING PROMPT
If an organisation fills an advertised position internally, what do you think the organisation should do
with the existing employee’s now-vacant position? Should it advertise this newly-available position or
simply appoint one of the people interviewed for the other job into this different position?
To fill an existing employee’s vacant position, the organisation may choose whichever
of the options presented in the Thinking prompt it thinks is most appropriate. However,
if a decision is made not to re-advertise, but instead to offer the position to one of the
unsuccessful applicants for the original position, then the change in circumstances and duties
must be made clear. This successful applicant can then decide whether the new position is
suitable for them.
Apprenticeships and traineeships

THINKING PROMPT
Interview a Year 11 or 12 student who is undertaking a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship (SAT).
Ask them questions related to their traineeship/apprenticeship, such as the following.
• How many days a week do they go to work?
• Do they get paid?
• Do they have any extra work to do apart from when they are in the workplace?
• How is this traineeship/apprenticeship going to help them when they leave school?
• Would they recommend that other students complete traineeships/apprenticeships? Why or why not?
Report your findings to the rest of the class.
with
yee
tial. Vocational education and training
Another option available to school students is selecting vocational education and
training (VET) subjects at school. Many schools have subjects that offer modules with
outcomes linked to Certificate I, II or III – the same levels that are undertaken by
trainees and apprentices.
Unfair dismissal
Scenario
u
You work at a local public swimming pool on a permanent part-time basis. You have
recently had the flu and were too sick to work for about three days. While you were sick,
you visited the doctor and asked for a medical certificate. You also gave your employer
plenty of notice that you were unable to work for a few days and, each morning during your
illness, you rang to say that you would be unable to work that day because you were sick.
Before you became sick, you had reported to your employer that some of the areas near
the children’s pool were not safe and needed to be fixed. The afternoon before you were
to return to work, you telephoned your employer to say you were feeling much better and
would be returning to work the next day. Your employer told you not to bother coming to
work because you had been replaced. You questioned this but were informed that you had
taken too much sick time and the business could not afford to be short-staffed. You have
your suspicions that losing your job had more to do with reporting the unsafe area than
your being ill.
Do you think losing your job for either reason is fair? Discuss this with a partner, and
share your opinions with other class members.

In Australia, laws exist to protect workers from being unfairly dismissed from their
unjust
Being treated unfairly employment. This means the employer cannot dismiss you unless there is a good reason that is
not considered harsh, unjust or unreasonable. In the previous scenario, being sick (especially
when you have a medical certificate and notified your employer each day of your illness) is
not a good reason for dismissal, nor is reporting unsafe work conditions to your employer.
For further information on the Anti-Discrimination Act, refer to page 200.
According to law, you cannot be dismissed in the following circumstances.
• Being away from work temporarily due to illness or injury
• Being a union member or participating in union activities such as a legal strike
• Being involved in legal proceedings against your employer; for example, if a customer is
suing the organisation and you are called as a witness in the case
• Becoming pregnant or taking parental leave
• Making a complaint about workplace health and safety conditions
• Any situation in which you are discriminated against in violation of the
Anti-Discrimination Act
Even if your employer does have a good reason to dismiss you (for example, you are
repeatedly making mistakes even though you have received training to help you overcome
these problems), your employer is still required to give you an adequate amount of notice
when you are dismissed. This is usually aligned to the period of continuous service you have
completed with that employer (see Table 8.3).
Table 8.3 Amount of notice required prior to dismissal

Period of continuous service Notice
Less than 1 year 1 week
More than 1 year, but not more than 3 years 2 weeks
More than 3 years, but not more than 5 years 3 weeks
More than 5 years 4 weeks
Source: Queensland Government, Department of Justice and Attorney-General
If you are not given adequate notice, your employer is obliged to pay you for the
appropriate number of weeks. For example, if you have been working for an organisation for
two years and you are entitled to two weeks’ pay but you are only given three days’ notice,
your employer must pay you for the remaining one week and two days, even though you will
not be working.
Your employer is allowed to dismiss you for many reasons, including:
• deliberately breaking your contract of employment
• behaviour that causes a risk to others or to the organisation
• stealing from others or the organisation
• assault
assault
• fraud
Action causing physical or
emotional hurt • being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while at work
• not carrying out lawful and reasonable instructions from your employer, as this is a
fraud
responsibility associated with being an employee.
Deception or lying
There are a number of situations in which workers are not protected by unfair dismissal
legislation and will need to pursue other avenues, such as anti-discrimination legislation.
These situations may refer to:
• casual workers who have been with the organisation for fewer than 12 months
• apprentices and trainees

• contract workers
probationary period
• termination of any worker during the probationary period of employment (usually the first A predetermined time
three months of employment). in which a working
When taking action against an employer for unfair dismissal, you are required to lodge an arrangement is trialled; for
application with Fair Work Australia within 14 days of the dismissal coming into effect. example, three months
Work the web

u
1 To learn how to make an unfair dismissal application, go to the Fair Work Australia
website. Select ‘Dismissals’, and then ‘How to make an application’. From here, you can
Fair Work Australia
download Form F2 – Application for Unfair Dismissal Remedy. Summarise the type of
information you need to include on this form.
2 Once you have completed and lodged a form for unfair dismissal, there is an unfair
dismissal application process to be followed. What are the five key steps in this process?
Employers may also make an employee redundant. This is when the employer no longer redundant
needs the job to be done by anyone. In this case, employers are required to pay severance pay In business, when an
to compensate the employee for the loss of a job in which they have been performing well. employee loses their job
The amount of severance pay for a full-time employee is dependent on how long the employee because the employer no
has been working for the organisation (see Table 8.4). longer needs that job done
severance pay
Table 8.4 Amount of severance pay The payment made to
Period of continuous service Severance pay (number of compensate an employee
who has been made
weeks’ pay)
redundant
Less than 1 year Nil
One year but not more than 2 years 4
More than 2 years but not more than 3 years 6
More than 12 years 16
Source: Queensland Government, Department of Justice and Attorney-General
Activity 8.4
1 Choose appropriate terms from the list below to complete the sentences.
conditions; unpaid; obligations; equity; advertisements; apprenticeship; junior
a You and your employer both need to ensure there is ________________ in the
workplace.
b When searching for a job, the newspaper and Internet are good places to find
________________.
c When a job advertisement specifies a requirement that applicants should be under
21 years of age, this mean that ___________ pay rates will apply.

d An employer must disclose the duties and ________ to the applicant before the
position is accepted.
e Work experience is a type of ________ work.
f Before beginning work, you should be aware of your entitlements and
________________.
g Through a combination of on-the-job training and study, you can complete a
traineeship or ________________ .
2 Analyse the advertisement at the left, identifying and explaining any
areas you feel are inappropriate. Redraft the advertisement to ensure it
ARE YOU OUR MAN? is suitable to publish.
Are you looking for an exciting career in the 3 List the items to be considered before beginning work experience.
engineering industry? Keen to travel? If you have no 4 Select a career you would like to pursue after you finish school.
ties, a licence and are willing to study, you could be
our man!
Investigate the options of work experience to assist you in pursuing
No experience required, just an interest in this career.
engineering. Salary will begin on $5.60 per hour with • With which organisations could you complete your work experience?
overtime paid after 55 hours. • What types of tasks could you undertake? How could you organise
Email your résumé to Sam at sam@burnmail.com
the work experience?
• Is it possible to undertake a school-based traineeship in this area?
If so, what is the title of the traineeship?
5 Indicate whether each of the following independent scenarios indicates a case of unfair
dismissal, and explain why/why not.
a You have received three written warnings about serious and costly mistakes you have
made. Your employer terminates your employment with four weeks’ notice.
b When you began your job, your employer pointed out that the position would only be
yours until you turned 18 due to the cost of wages. You are a hard worker and do an
excellent job. You received a notice of termination on your 18th birthday.
c A work colleague has been caught stealing money from the cash register. They are
instantly dismissed with no notice.
d Rachel has been working as a casual employee for eight months. Her employer has
decided she is no longer required by the organisation and terminated her employment.
e Connor’s supervisor saw him intoxicated at a nightclub. The next day when he turned
up to work, Connor’s supervisor told him he was being dismissed due to his alcoholism,
as he posed a danger to his fellow employees.
f Rosie worked at a florist designing flower arrangements. A customer complained that
the flowers for her wedding were not what she ordered and they were half dead when
they were picked up. Rosie’s boss instantly dismissed her.
6 George has been working at Langbrooke & Co. for just over three years. Due to the
organisation restructuring, he no longer has a position with the company. He has been
offered a redundancy package. George is paid at a rate of $870 per week. How much notice
and severance pay should he receive?
Conflict resolution
THINKING PROMPT
Have you ever been involved in a dispute? What was the nature of the dispute, and how was it resolved? If
you faced a similar dispute again, would you handle things differently? Why/why not?

Organisations are made up of a number of diverse people working together. It is normal to
diverse (workplace)
assume that from time to time, disputes will arise. What matters most is how these disputes A workplace made up of
are dealt with and resolved. employees from a wide
Disputes do not need to result in a negative outcome. Quite often, disputes arise because range of backgrounds
one person, or a group of people, can see a better way of doing something.
u Scenario
Every time someone has a computer problem while working at Sunshine Building
Corporation, they ring the computer help desk and Joseph, the technician, shows the
worker how to fix the problem and nothing more is then heard about it. One employee,
Adeela, suggested that a log be kept of all the problems so that suitable solutions can be
found to avoid common problems recurring (such as providing better training for staff).
Initially, Joseph does not like the idea because he says, ‘we’ve always done it this way!’
Also, Joseph quite likes his job at the computer help desk and is fearful that his job might
even disappear if there are fewer computer issues.
However, by sitting down and working through the dispute, Adeela and Joseph were
able to devise a revised system of training that works and is accepted by all staff members.
Joseph now has an important role to play in the development of and implementation of this
training for existing and new employees.
The previous scenario shows cooperation between Adeela and Joseph, who decide to sit
down and discuss the issue. It also demonstrates negotiation, where the parties involved in negotiation
the dispute strive for a ‘win-win’ situation, resulting in both parties being happy and satisfied The process of
communicating and
with the outcome. Throughout the negotiation process, Samantha and Joseph communicated, coming to an agreement
actively listening to each other and clarifying what the other person said to ensure they fully or solution
understood each other’s point of view.
active listening
Carefully considering
THINKING PROMPT and understanding
Suppose Samantha and Joseph have discussed the situation and cannot come to an agreement. What do the information being
you think they should do? What do you do when you and your friends cannot come to an agreement? conveyed
mediation
If you cannot come to an agreement with someone, in many cases you would probably ask The process of resolving
someone else to help you. This might be another friend who was not involved in the initial a dispute whereby a third
disagreement, a teacher, a brother or sister, or even your parents. This person who helps you party assists in restoring
come to a fair agreement is called a mediator. The mediator asks questions of both groups to effective communication
find out more information, and helps both parties to see the situation from the other person’s between parties involved
point of view. In the example you have been considering here, if Samantha and Joseph
had not come to an agreement, they could ask their supervisor for help with the process of
mediation. Figure 8.14 illustrates the steps that could be taken to resolve a dispute.
Cooperation
Dispute occurs between parties to
resolve dispute
Mediation
Negotiation
(if required)
Resolution of dispute
p Figure 8.14 Dispute resolution

When a workplace supervisor or someone else from within the organisation cannot help
with mediation, an outside person needs to be called in.
Scenario
u
An employee, Brent, feels that he is being unfairly treated in the workplace. He has
been put on his final warning but believes he should not have received this or any of the
preceding warnings. Brent has tried discussing this with his employer but it is difficult as it
is his employer who has issued the warnings and is threatening Brent with the loss of his
job. Brent calls his union to find out what his rights are and the union decides to appoint a
mediator to try to resolve this problem.
What do you think Brent should do when he receives a warning? What records do you
think Brent should keep?
THINKING PROMPT
Read the scenario above.
Brent is unsure what is meant by a mediator and is quite worried about meeting this person. Write
Brent a letter to explain what role the mediator will play and what they will be doing.
For information on letters, refer to Unit 9.
In the letter you wrote to Brent in the Thinking prompt activity, you probably told him that
enterprise bargaining
The process whereby the mediator is there to help him come to an understanding with his employer. The mediator
employees, employers, will not take sides with Brent or the employer; rather, the mediator will help the communication
unions and employer process so Brent can understand the employer’s point of view and vice versa. The aim of using a
associations negotiate mediator is to resolve the situation to the satisfaction of both parties, if possible.
working conditions Mediators are also called in to help with the enterprise bargaining process. Quite
often, employers, employees and unions cannot come to agreement on wage rises and other
conditions. When an agreement cannot be made, a mediator is brought in to help resolve
the situation.
Activity 8.5
1 Discuss the following aspects of the dispute resolution process in one paragraph.
• Dispute
• Cooperation
• Negotiation
• Communication
• Mediation
2 In groups of three or four, role-play the following situations, finding a resolution.
a Your school has introduced a new uniform. The material used in this new uniform is
very hot and scratchy. The students were not consulted and do not want to wear the
new uniform.
b A new employee has started work as a supervisor at your organisation. This employee
is experienced. However, she is causing rifts between staff members. In the past, staff
members volunteered to complete additional tasks they were trained in and enjoyed.
However, the new supervisor decided to change the allocation of tasks on her first day.
The employees are not happy with the new arrangements.
c Your workplace has a small kitchenette for staff members to store and prepare their
lunch. The general rule is that each person cleans up after themselves. Lately, one
staff member has taken to leaving dirty plates and cups in the sink and not wiping
down the bench. The next person who uses the kitchenette is usually stuck with
cleaning up the mess.

WRAP UP UNIT 8
In this unit, you have learned that:
u employers and employees have a responsibility to ensure a safe working environment,
free of physical, biological and psychological hazards
u workplace-related legislation exists to protect the rights of employees
u workplace relations refers to the relationships that exist between employers, employees,
unions and employer associations
u documents, such as modern awards and enterprise agreements, ensure fair working
conditions for employees
u full-time, part-time and casual work are all examples of paid work
u unpaid work includes volunteer work, domestic work and work experience
u equitable workplace practices ensure employees are treated fairly from the time of
appointment throughout the duration of employment and dismissal
u dispute resolution aims to resolve conflict and negative situations within the workplace.
REVISION ACTIVITY rd
wo
Check your understanding of the main concepts covered in this unit by completing the crossword on
cross
BLM 8.6, on the CD in the back of your book. Good luck!
BLM
New business terms
active listening Carefully considering and understanding the information being conveyed
assault Action causing physical or emotional hurt
award A document outlining the minimum working conditions for employees in a particular industry
bullying Any action that aims to intimidate, humiliate or put a person down
diligence Being attentive and taking care to do things properly
discrimination The unfavourable treatment of an individual based on an attribute such as race, gender,
pregnancy, impairment, marital status, age, religion or sexuality
dispute A disagreement or difference of opinion; in the workplace, this refers to formal disputes that have
been brought to the attention of management
diverse (workplace) A workplace made up of employees from a wide range of backgrounds
employer association An association that represent groups of employers in areas such as legal matters, enterprise
bargaining, policy development and support
enterprise bargaining The process whereby employees, employers, unions and employer associations negotiate working
conditions
harassment Any unwanted behaviour directed towards another that is offensive, embarrassing, intimidating
or humiliating
leave entitlements Entitlements regarding time away from work, given to an employee by an employer; includes
provisions such as sick leave, holiday pay and leave loading
ISBN 9780170185653 Unit 8 Legal Processes

processes and Work
work 223

mediation The process of resolving a dispute whereby a third party assists in restoring effective
communication between parties involved
negotiation The process of communicating and coming to an agreement or solution
redundant In business, when an employee loses their job because the employer no longer needs that job done
responsibilities Expectations that employers and employees must meet
rights Entitlements that employers and employees can expect to receive
severance pay The payment made to compensate an employee who has been made redundant
unionism The practice whereby employees join and are involved with a union
unjust Being treated unfairly
word check

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Chapter 8 Legal Processes and Work

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LEGAL PROCESSES AND WORK UNIT 8

• workplace practices and regulations p. 195

• legislation and the workplace p. 199

In this unit you

• equitable workplace practices p. 216

• conflict resolution p. 220

Workplace practices and regulations

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Employer p Figure 8.1 Safety responsibilities of the employer

Comply with instructions given for workplace safety.

Use protective equipment provided by the employer.

Participate in workplace training provided by the

Do not deliberately misuse equipment provided

Do not deliberately place the health and safety of

Do not deliberately injure yourself.

Hazards and risks

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There are many different types of hazards (see Figure 8.4).

Layout of work area Cigarette smoke

Bullying Psychological Stress

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8 Identify the psychological hazard in

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Legislation and the workplace

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Equal Employment Opportunity

Age Sexuality Gender identity

p Figure 8.5 Types of discrimination

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Case study 8.1 is an example of direct discrimination. Discrimination is direct when a

p Figure 8.6 When are you protected by the Anti-discrimination Act?

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tax file number (TFN)

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CASE STUDY 8.2

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National employment standards and

Parental leave and

Right to request flexible Notice of termination

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Rights and responsibilities of employees and

Meal break allowance Duties to be undertaken

Leave loading Notice for dismissal or redundancy

Follow the duty of good faith Respect the rights of others

Follow reasonable orders Display due care

Use safety requirements provided Work safely

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Expect employees to be diligent

Expect employees to show Expect employees to respect