Tough Times - Dealing with Employee Costs

The very dry summer, increased costs and low commodity prices are leading to many employers looking at their labour costs and how to minimise these costs.

Cutting back on overtime and minimising the use of casual labour is one way to reduce labour costs, but when looking at putting off casual staff an employer needs to be careful that these aren’t long term casuals with regular and systematic employment. If a casual has been regularly employed for more than 6 months, they do have a right to claim unfair dismissal.

If an employer is looking to reduce their permanent staff numbers, then such a termination of employment equates to a redundancy. The Awards all provide that before an employee’s position is made redundant that the employer must consult with the employee about the situation and allow the employee to have input into ways to avoid the redundancy.

There are a number of steps the employer must take to ensure that any redundancy is done correctly and thus avoid having the Fair Work Commission declaring that it was not a genuine redundancy and awarding compensation to the employee.

Not following the correct steps can lead to a time-consuming and costly appearance in the Fair Work Commission. Many unfair dismissal claims are successful for the employee not because there isn’t a legitimate reason to terminate, but because the employer hasn’t followed the correct steps.

Before making any employee’s position redundant, or before terminating any employee, it is best practice to get professional advice. Primary Employers Tasmania can give you the necessary advice and provide all the paperwork and documentation to ensure that correct procedures are followed and can also attend on farm to conduct the necessary termination of employment.