Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-1 CHAPTER 2 Administering HR policies and procedures

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-2 Learning Outcomes  Document, distribute and maintain organisational human resource policies and procedures.  Ensure that organisational human resource policies and procedures are clearly communicated. (cont.)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-3 Learning Outcomes (cont.)  Document and communicate contingency plans to relevant groups and individuals to enable them to cope with extreme situations.  Identify and analyse employee turnover problems and present suggestions to management for consideration.  Determine the relevance of legislation to HR activities.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-4 Learning Outcomes (cont.)  Undertake research on legislative compliance.  Prepare simple reports and maintain records in accordance with organisational requirements.  Coordinate workers’ compensation and rehabilitation claims.  Advise applicants and service providers about the progress of claims.  Coordinate reports from service providers.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-5 Policies and Procedures  Policies and procedures are developed to reflect the strategic direction of the organisation and are designed to benefit all stakeholders, including owners, managers and employees.  Policies and procedures provide direction on the process of how the employees are managed and how to determine their entitlements.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-6 Stakeholders Stakeholders may be described as a group of people who have a major interest or claim on the operations of an organisation.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-7 Organisational HR Policies and Procedures A policy may be defined as guidelines on how particular aspects of the employment relationship should be addressed.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-8 Examples of HR Policies Typical examples of Human Resource Policies include the following areas:  recruitment, selection and probation  induction and orientation  employee assistance programs  occupational health and safety  career development/training  performance management

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-9 Human Resource Procedures  A human resource procedure is a document detailing how the organisational HR policy will be implemented.  A procedure describes the activities, responsibilities and tasks involved in specific detail.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-10 Drafting Policies and Procedures Owners and managers of organisations can develop HR policies and practices to cover any aspect of the employment relationship, and they have a right to devise policies and practices to fit their organisation’s strategic needs and goals.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-11 The Importance of Legal Precedent  Policies and procedures will be worthless if they do not meet legislative compliance or are in conflict with legal precedent.  Legal precedent is a legal decision on a case that serves as a rule in similar cases in future.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-12 Stages in the Development of HR Policies and Procedures

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-13 Equal Employment Opportunity Equal employment opportunity (EEO) refers to attempts to ensure that all individuals have an equal chance for employment or promotion, regardless of characteristics such as ethnic or national origin, religion, age or sex. EEO policies must comply with legislative requirements.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-14 HR in a Changing World Organisations need to react and cope with a range of fluctuating factors including:  economic recession or expansion  new legislation, competitors or technology  increased costs, disrupted supplies, war or terrorism  changing employee attitudes and expectations  changing community standards

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-15 HR Policy and Contingency Planning Contingency planning requires the development of HR plans to deal with unusual operating situations.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-16 Contingency Planning Contingency planning can be developed to deal with:  severe employee shortages due to illness  operational issues in times of takeover  OHS issues relating to terrorism or sabotage  natural disasters  high levels of resignations

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-17 Labour Turnover  Labour turnover is the measurement of the number of employees terminating their employment divided by the number of employees in the organisation, usually over a one-year period.  High labour turnover can be costly to an organisation, as it can reduce profitability and predictability of organisational performance.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-18 Reasons for Termination Essentially people leave an organisation for one of three reasons:  employer initiated termination: dismissal or retrenchment  unavoidable reasons: retirement age being reached, illness, death, family relocation or family problems  avoidable reasons: these are mostly employee initiated and involve resignation and early retirement

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-19 Costs of High Labour Turnover Unnecessarily high labour turnover can render an otherwise competitive business uncompetitive due to the costs associated with uncontrolled employee resignation or termination.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-20 Costs of Employee Turnover Costs can be divided into two categories:  direct costs  indirect costs

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-21 Direct Costs of Employee Turnover  Recruitment, selection and advertising  Processing termination pay  Overtime to assist work overload  Initial induction training of new recruits  Training  Time taken for new recruits to become productive

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-22 Indirect Costs of Employee Turnover  Under-utilisation of equipment  Loss of sales  Lower service  Lower quality  Customer dissatisfaction  Late deliveries  Supervision time involved in training  Low morale

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-23 Finding the Causes of High Turnover Ways that the causes of high turnover can be investigated include:  examination of statistical data  exit interviews containing structured and unstructured responses  determining the category of termination— whether voluntary or involuntary  employee attitude surveys  consultation

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-24 Reducing High Labour Turnover High labour turnover can be reduced by a number of initiatives. These include:  improving remuneration packages  improving incentives and rewards  greater flexibility in working hours  changing organisational culture  developing a safe, healthy work environment  fostering ethical and honest work practices

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-25 Legislative Compliance in HR HR practitioners need to have a working knowledge of the major issues affecting the employment relationship, to assist the organisation in maintaining legislative compliance.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-26 Federal Legislation Examples of federal legislation that organisations may be required to comply with include:  Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1987  Disability Discrimination Act 1992  Workplace Relations Act 1996  Privacy Act 1988  Racial Discrimination Act 1975  Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-27 State Legislation Examples of state legislation that organisations may need to comply with include the following:  Annual Holidays/Leave Acts (ACT, NSW, NT, Qld)  Employment Protection Act 1992 (NSW)  Industrial Relations Acts (NSW, Qld, Tas., WA)  Industrial and Employee Relations Act 1994 (SA) (cont.)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-28 State Legislation (cont.)  Defamation Act (most states)  Anti Discrimination Acts (ACT, NSW, Qld, Tas., NT)  Equal Opportunity Acts (Vic., WA, SA)  Occupational Health and Safety Acts (NSW, ACT, SA, Tas., Vic., WA)  Workplace Health and Safety Acts (Qld, Tas.)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-29 Workers’ Compensation Workers’ Compensation has been defined by WorkCover (NSW) as follows: ‘Workers’ compensation provides injured workers with weekly payments to cover loss of earning capacity, payment of medical expenses and vocational rehabilitation expenses, where necessary, to assist them to return to work.’ WorkCover NSW website,

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-30 Injury Management Injury management involves administering and enforcing compliance with the relevant legislation and managing the workers’ compensation system.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-31 Workers’ compensation legislation Most workers’ compensation legislation in Australia covers the following general areas:  compulsory insurance  employer liability  incapacity for work  entitlements  payments  promotion of safety and accident research  dispute resolution bodies

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-32 Employer Responsibilities in Relation to Workers’ Compensation The role of the employer is to coordinate and manage workers’ compensation claims and workplace injuries through effective management of the claim process, including management of the injury and the injured worker.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-33 Employer Responsibilities Within most states in Australia, an employer must:  Notify the workers’ compensation insurer within 48 hours of becoming aware that a worker has suffered a significant injury.  Notify the workers’ compensation insurer within seven days of becoming aware that a worker has suffered a minor injury.  Provide details of workers’ compensation insurer to the injured employee. (cont.)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-34 Employer Responsibilities (cont.)  Participate and cooperate in the establishment of an injury management plan.  Appoint an accredited rehabilitation provider if required.  Notify the workers’ compensation insurer immediately if suitable employment cannot be found.  Send all claim documents to the insurance company.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-35 Employee Responsibilities Injured workers also have a number of responsibilities including:  Notifying the employer as soon as practical, that they have sustained an injury or disease.  Visit their doctor and obtain treatment and an approved medical certificate.  Comply with the injury management plan arranged by insurance company. (cont.)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-36 Employee Responsibilities (cont.)  Authorise treating doctor to provide relevant information to the insurance company.  Make all reasonable efforts to return to work with their pre-injury employer as soon as possible.

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-37 Processing Workers’ Compensation Claims Employers are required to have integrated information systems to manage the workers’ compensation process. These systems include:  register of injuries and accidents  reporting of workers’ compensation claims  procedures for checking claim paperwork

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-38 Rehabilitation  Rehabilitation involves undertaking reasonable actions to enable an injured employee to return to work.  Rehabilitation can take two forms:  physical or medical, where the worker is brought back to optimum physical capacity  vocational, where the worker is enabled to return to some form of suitable employment

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-39 Chapter 2 Summary  Owners and managers of businesses have a right to develop policies and procedures to meet the needs of their business, provided that these documents meet legislative requirements.  Human resource policies and procedures need to be integrated with the organisation’s strategic plan.  Contingency plans are documented and communicated to relevant groups and individuals to enable them to cope with extreme situations. (cont.)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-40 Chapter 2 Summary (cont.)  Employee turnover problems require analysis, as they may indicate organisational problems.  Costs of employee turnover may be indirect or direct.  An organisation must cover all employees with a workers’ compensation scheme appropriate to the state or territory that it operates in. (cont.)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPTs t/a Australian Human Resources Management by Jeremy Seward and Tim Dein Slides prepared by Michelle Travers 2-41 Chapter 2 Summary (cont.)  Injured workers are required to notify their employer that they have sustained a workplace injury.  It is imperative that workers’ compensation and rehabilitation claims be accurately coordinated to meet appropriate state legislation.  The human resources administrator must advise applicants and service providers about the progress of workers’ compensation claims, and coordinate reports from service providers. (cont.)