JobKeeper: I get the financial side…but what are my other obligations?

This week on the Journal we chat with HR specialist and Director of Armadillo HR Carly Amando. She is an operationally-focused certified HR professional with 17 years of experience, that can help create realistic and practical people solutions for your business. She has a proven track record in recruitment, industrial relations, employee relations, outplacement and more.

If you’re like other biz owners or managers out there, you probably have questions about JobKeeper. Carly shares her thoughts and advice on some frequently asked questions on how you can manage JobKeeper and your team during this state of emergency.

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So we've all read up on JobKeeper Support Package now and understand the payment side of things. But did you know what the legislation means to some other Employer/Employee Rights?

Remember these questions only apply if your business is:

A.     Eligible for JobKeeper (ie/ 30% or more decrease and meets the other criteria set for business)

B.     Is only for the period from 30th March 2020 - 27th September 2020.

So I’ve registered for JobKeeper, what now?

As an employer, you need to advise your employees when you register/are eligible for JobKeeper, pop this in writing to them too. There are some new forms that the employee/employer now need to complete from 20th April to acknowledge and declare they are eligible and not receiving payments elsewhere. Note there are penalties for both parties is there is misreporting here.

Read more about it here: https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/Employers/Enrol-and-apply-for-the-JobKeeper-payment/

Can I reduce staff hours?

You can direct an employee to reduce hours (even down to zero) assuming there is a valid reason. This is now termed a "JobKeeper enabling stand down direction" there are a few requirements around consulting and providing notice… keep reading for those steps.

Can I ask my team to work from home or at a different location to meet with social distancing requirements?

You can direct them to work at a different location, this must be reasonable and not additional travel etc - this will most likely be their home. The location must be safe. I remind you of your safety obligations as their homes now become an extension of your workplace.

Can I change my team’s hours/days they work?

Yes.  You can request them to work on different days/times, again this must be reasonable. We are encouraging employers to discuss this with their staff to ensure that they can complete their duties with any additional home/caring requirements they may have.

Can I ask my team to take on a different role due to COVID-19?

Yes.  You can direct employees to undertake alternate duties. You must meet some criteria though, they must have the skillset/competency/licences etc to do them. And that the duties are in a reasonable scope of the business operations. ie/ they can't come and clean your home (unless you run a cleaning business of course). Also, note if the alternate duties are a higher duty they should be paid accordingly.

You cannot reduce their pay. During a JobKeeper enabling stand down period or alternative duties arrangement, you will need to meet their normal hourly rate of pay. So, if they are doing a lower duty, they need to be paid their normal hourly rate.

Can I request them to take their Annual Leave?

You can request an employee to take a period of Annual Leave as long as their leave balance will have 2 weeks remaining. You can also agree for the employee to take twice as much paid annual leave at half the pay. The employee can only refuse during this period if they have a “reasonable” excuse and to quote the Fair Work Commission, “If an employer asks their employee to take annual leave, the employee has to consider the request, and can’t unreasonably refuse it”.

Key takeaways when putting in place a JobKeeper enabling directions are:

• You must be eligible for JobKeeper to be making these changes.

• You must consult with the Employee about the change. Discuss with them first. It can’t be the first time they are hearing about it when you issue them a letter detailing the change.

• They must be given 3 days’ notice before the direction takes effect

• The direction/change must be placed in writing

• It can't reduce their hourly rate of pay

• It must be reasonable ie/ have operational reasons for the change in hours or duties

• They can't be made after the 27th of September.

These are really important! You don’t want issues/claims following these changes when you haven’t followed the process correctly. The Fair Work Commission will hear any disputes around these directions like they do with unfair dismissal or general protections dispute.

Good luck to you all, it involves some really tough decision making and conversations to work through this process. The aim of the support package and changes to the legislation is to support all parties so your team and your business have some baseline funding to ensure your business comes through the other side of this pandemic.

Good luck navigating through it all and keep safe.

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If you need to have a chat with an HR specialist, you can book a complimentary 15-minute consultation with Carly. Visit her website to book or follow her on Instagram and Facebook.