Task 1

1. List and briefly describe five (5) examples of legislation that apply to managing
human resources in Australia. (250 words)
Relevant legislation from all levels of government that affects business operation:

 WHS. There are both State and Federal WHS Acts. It is important to make sure that
you are familiar with the Act in your State. The Acts are usually regulated by
regulations aimed at assisting you in following the State or Territory in which you
reside.
 Environmental issues may not affect your industry. However, check whether
environmental legislation will impact on the HR services that you may implement on
your worksite. For example, if you are adding facilities, be aware of any laws that
you may breach under: o Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999 o Antarctic Acts o Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection
Act 1984 o Australian Heritage Council Act o Captain Flat (Abatement of Pollution)
Agreement Act 1975 o Chowilla Reservoir Agreement act 1963.
 Equal opportunity and Anti-discrimination
 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) ensures that employers: o Follow the anti-
discrimination laws and try to ensure that everyone in their workplace follows and
understands them o May implement a specific equal employment opportunity
management plan or program designed to ensure that everyone really does have
equal opportunity in the workplace.
 Industrial relations – legislation and regulations under industrial relations include: o
Workplace Relations Act 1996 o Workplace Relations Regulations 2006 o The AIRC
Rules.

2. Outline the ten (10) minimum workplace entitlements for a permanent employee of
an organisation outlined in the National Employment standards. (130 words)
The 10 minimum entitlements of the NES are:
1) Maximum weekly hours 
Maximum weekly hours forms part of the National Employment Standards (NES).
2) Requests for flexible working arrangements

Employers covered by an award must first discuss the request with their employee to try to
reach an agreement about changes to the employee’s working conditions.

3) Parental leave and related entitlements

Employees can get parental leave when a child is born or adopted.

4) Annual leave
Annual leave accumulates from the first day of employment, even if an employee is in a
probation period.
5) Personal/carer's leave, compassionate leave and unpaid family and domestic violence
leave

6) Community service leave

Employees, including casual employees, can take community service leave for certain
activities
7) Long service leave
An employee gets long service leave after a long period of working for the same
employer.

8) Public holidays
Public holidays can be different depending on the state or territory you work in.
9) Notice of termination and redundancy pay

Redundancy happens when an employer either:

 doesn't need an employee’s job to be done by anyone, or

 becomes insolvent or bankrupt.

Redundancy can happen when the business:

 introduces new technology (e.g. the job can be done by a machine)

 slows down due to lower sales or production
 closes down
 relocates interstate or overseas
 restructures or reorganizes because a merger or takeover happens.

10) Fair Work Information Statement

Employers have to give every new employee a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement
3. Briefly describe four (4) information records that must be kept for seven years for
each employee according to the Fair Work Act and Fair Work Regulations 2009. (40
words)
General employment
 the employer's name
 the employer's Australian Business Number (ABN) (if any)
 the employee's name
 the employee's commencement date
 the basis of the employee's employment (full or part-time and permanent,
temporary or casual).
Pay
 the rate of pay paid to the employee
 the gross and net amounts paid and any deductions from the gross amount
 the details of any incentive-based payment, bonus, loading, penalty rate, or other
monetary allowance or separately identifiable entitlement paid.
Hours of work records
  In the case of a casual or irregular part-time employee who is guaranteed a pay rate
set by reference to time worked, a record of the hours worked by that employee
 For any other type of employee, the record must specify the number of overtime
hours worked each day, or when the employee started and finished working
overtime hours (but only if a penalty rate or loading must be paid for overtime hours
actually worked)
 A copy of the written agreement if the employer and employee have agreed to the
employee taking time off instead of being paid for overtime worked
 A copy of the written agreement if the employer and employee have agreed to an
averaging of the employee's work hours.
Leave records
 leave taken, if any
 the balance of the employee's entitlement to that leave from time to time.
If an employer and an employee have agreed to the employee taking a period of
annual leave in advance of an accrued amount of leave, the employer must keep a
copy of the agreement which:
 states the amount of leave to be taken in advance and the date on which the leave is
to commence
 must be signed by the employer and the employee, and if the employee is under 18
years of age, by the employee’s parent or guardian.
If an employer and employee have agreed to cash out an accrued amount of leave,
the employer must keep: 
 a copy of the agreement to cash out the amount of leave
 a record of the amount of leave to be cashed out and the payment to be made to
the employee for it
 the date on which the payment is to be made.

4. Explain the benefit of having Code of Conduct for employees in an organisation and
list four (4) areas that Code of Conduct could address. (50 words)
The Code of Conduct ensures that all personnel will have Equity and Justice under EEO. This
means that all employees will be treated equally irrespective of leave, type of work and
disability. Employees should also be given an opportunity to provide feedback to ensure
that they do not feel like they have been treated unfairly, such as in the form of harassment
or discrimination of any form such as bullying, racism and sexism.

 Discrimination
 Bullying
 Dress Code
 Personal Behavior

5. Explain the importance of a human resources strategy. (50 words)

When a human resource department strategically develops its plans for recruitment,
training, and compensation based on the goals of the organization, it is ensuring a greater
chance of organizational success.
6. List and explain four (4) key steps in the human resources strategic planning process.
(350 words)
Step in the human resources strategic planning process.
1) Information Gatherin
a) External analysis (customer trends)
b) Internal Analysis (Competencies and gaps)
2) Development/Refinement of Vision, Mission and Guiding Principles
a) Determine what business are we in
b) Determine what do we plan to accomplish?
3) Strategic Discussion & Resolution
a) Discuss opportunities and threats are on the horizon
b) Determine the highest priority issues and how should they be addressed
4) Plan Development
a) Objectives and goals
b) Initiatives and action steps
5) Allocation of Resources
a) Financial
b) Human
c) Intellectual
6) Execute, Measure and Monitor
a) Balanced Scorecard
b) Performance Management
Strategic planning defines the objectives and assesses both the impact of the external
environment and the strengths and weaknesses of the internal environment to determine
what strategy the organisation will follow to meet its goals. At the same time, strategic
planning should be monitored, evaluated and reviewed so that adjustments to processes
can be made so that the organisation’s goals can be met. Strategic plans are long term goals
that allow HR professionals to predict the future staffing requirements of the organisation.
These requirements can be broken down into operational plans. Operational plans assist HR
professionals in achieving benchmarks according to the strategic plan. Operational plans are
usually part of a 1 – 3 year plan and link activities to the resources required to meet the
organisations goals. Operational plans should include:

 Clear objectives and the outcomes desired

 Activities required to meet the goals
 Implementing timetables
 How progress is going to be monitored and reviewed
 Staffing and resource requirements.
 7. Explain how a human resources strategy can assist a business to achieve business
and operational goals and plans? (40 words)
Strategic planning defines the objectives and assesses both the impact of the
external environment and the strengths and weaknesses of the internal
environment to determine what strategy the organisation will follow to meet
its goals. At the same time, strategic planning should be monitored, evaluated
and reviewed so that adjustments to processes can be made so that the
organisation’s goals can be met. Strategic plans are long term goals that allow
HR professionals to predict the future staffing requirements of the
organisation.

8. Explain how a performance management system can contribute to achieving overall

business objectives. (40 words)

An effective Performance Management process establishes the groundwork for excellence

by linking individual employee objectives with the organisation's mission and strategic plans.
The employee has a clear concept on how they contribute to the achievement the overall
business objective

9. Describe three (3) components of effective performance management system. (150

words)
 Areas for performance development. Effective managers evaluate and address the
developmental needs of their employees. Developing in this instance means
increasing the capacity to perform through training, giving assignments that
introduce new skills or higher levels of responsibility, improving work processes, or
 other methods. Providing employees with training and developmental opportunities
encourages good performance, strengthens job-related skills and competencies, and
helps employees keep up with changes in the workplace, such as the introduction of
new technology. Carrying out the processes of performance management provides
an excellent opportunity for supervisors and employees to identify developmental
needs. While planning and monitoring work, deficiencies in performance become
evident and should be addressed. Areas for improving good performance also stand
out, and action can be taken to help successful employees improve even further.
 Performance Appraisal and Reviewing. The appraisals are normally performed twice
in a year in an organization in the form of mid reviews and annual reviews which is
held in the end of the financial year. In this process, the appraisee first offers the self
filled up ratings in the self appraisal form and also describes his/her achievements
over a period of time in quantifiable terms. After the self appraisal, the final ratings
are provided by the appraiser for the quantifiable and measurable achievements of
the employee being appraised. The entire process of review seeks an active
participation of both the employee and the appraiser for analyzing the causes of
loopholes in the performance and how it can be overcome. This has been discussed
in the performance feedback section.
 Feedback and Coaching. Employees want to know how they are performing.
Because they want to do a good job. Managers should regularly tell employees about
their performance – what’s good, what could be improved, and even more
importantly, how to evaluate their own work. When employees can evaluate their
own performance well, they can set their own goals and begin to become self-
learners.

10. Explain the purpose of contract management in human resources. (40 words)
Contract management or contract administration is the management of contracts made
with customers, vendors, partners, or employees. The personnel involved in contract
administration required to negotiate, support and manage effective contracts are often
expensive to train and retain. Contract management includes negotiating the terms and
conditions in contracts and ensuring compliance with the terms and conditions, as well as
documenting and agreeing on any changes or amendments that may arise during its
implementation or execution. It can be summarized as the process of systematically and
efficiently managing contract creation, execution, and analysis for the purpose of
maximizing financial and operational performance and minimizing risk.

11. Based on your review of the above information, briefly describe how the above
feedback could be used to improve the delivery of the human resources services
provided by the HR team. (20 words)
From all the feedbacks that have been collected from the managers the first step that need
to take is to conduct a performance review of HR functions. And also for the recruitment
process that might be held in the futute, it will need involving the existing
employees/managers to help managing and taking role to improve the effectivity of the
process.