Employment relations firm Employsure has reported that it received over 321,000 advice requests on their 24-hour Workplace Advice line during FY21-22 from employers seeking assistance on various issues
In Employsure’s summary, the company identified the biggest areas of concern among employers seeking help are employee management (64,792) workplace entitlements (56,025), workplace documentation (53,328), and termination (33,167)
Employsure notes that given these numbers, business owners are struggling with matters of compliance. This is further complicated by Australia having one of the most complex workplace relations regulatory systems in the world.
The Fair Work Ombudsman in comparison reported that they received over 375,000 calls on their dedicated helpline in their FY-20-21 annual report.
“The kind of calls that our advisors help with most often are issues that are inherently complex due to the human element,” Employsure’s Head of Operations, Stephen Roebuck, said. “While the law tells employers what their legal obligations are, it doesn’t tell an employer how to have a difficult conversation with an underperforming staff member, or how to compassionately dismiss someone while following procedural fairness.
“The Fair Work Act is over 600 pages long and written in legalese,” Roebuck added. “It’s simply not possible for any individual business owner to be across all the detail. The fact that our advisors take such a high volume of phone calls is evidence of importance of services like ours to Australian businesses.”
Employsure also contended that the figures presented challenge recent media reporting of a toxic endemic business culture that deliberately seeks to exploit and rip off workers.
“321,000 requests for help from approximately 24,400 clients are indicative of a business culture that is trying their best to do the right thing by their employees,” Employsure’s CEO, David Price, said. “Breaches of the Fair Work Act can carry significant penalties. In its annual report, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) reported the filing of 76 litigations and the imposition of $2.85 million worth of court-ordered penalties. FWO also issued 19 enforceable undertakings to the value of $81,731,999 in recovered wages.”
“Business owners get into business to follow their passion and vision. They are rarely experts in HR or in the scope of their obligations in employment relations,” Price added. “This is where we step in, by offering true value and helping them ensure the small issues don’t turn into big problems.”
