It is a legal requirement for all employees to have a written employment agreement that clearly outlines the terms and conditions that will govern an employment relationship. An employment agreement must be signed before your employees commencement date.
Types of employment agreements
Employment relationships vary widely from one to another, however there are essentially three main types of agreements.
- Casual employment – on an ‘as and when required basis’ only
- Fixed term employment – for a clearly specified temporary period only
- Permanent employment – could be on a full-time or part-time basis
Flexibility
Although employment law was changed in April 2016, you can still build flexibility into employment arrangements if you have a genuine business reason. But you need to be aware of the following:
- You can’t require employees to be available outside normal hours without a genuine business reason
- You can’t have unreasonable expectations on the availability of employees compared to the amount of work you are offering
- You can’t cancel shifts at the last minute or send employees home without either payment for the hours they would have worked, or mutual agreement to work those hours at another time.
Quick tips
- Check to make sure that your team is rostered to be at work when your customers want to use the business
- Review your roster regularly and notify your team of when you want them to work on a weekly basis
- Use a mixture of employment contracts with your team to allow flexibility
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