The Importance of Understanding the Legal Requirements Relating to the Employment - Coursework Example

Running header: Legal requirements in relation to employment in Australia Your name Institution Subject 26 March 2011 The importance and application of the legal requirements to the recruitment and selection of people Manpower in most organizations and businesses has remained to be the greatest asset and the largest investment. According to PWC (2011), well managed employment and workplace relations law is essential to help the organsation achieve its goals and objectives, reduce workplace risks and eventually assist in minimizing costs that are associated with disputes and non-compliance arising in the work place. There are several legal requirements that are necessary in any employment in Australia. These range from the right age for employment to the legal right to work in Australia. Understanding the legal requirements in employment recruiting and selection is very important for both the employees and the employer. In various organizations and Businesses, managers and supervisors are entitled to ensuring a systematic recruitment process. This dwells on the identification of the role to be filled, the necessary type of skills required and the ability needed to fill it. According to most organizations, recruitment systems are simple with a routine that is followed whenever there is a vacancy to be filled. This can be monitored and adapted in the light of experience. Legal requirements in employment recruiting and selection are very important for both the employee and the employer. Human resource managers should be keen in regulating the recruitment and selection process. Recruiting employees without adhering to the employment legal requirements can lead to increased labor turnover, increased costs for the organisation or business and lowering of morale or motivation in the existing workforce. Employees are likely to be discontented, unmotivated, unlikely to be committed to their work or give their best, and may end up leaving the job voluntarily or involuntarily when their requirements are not met. In addition, it can lead to workplace disputes which can be avoided in the initial steps of recruiting. There are various aspects that can assist in application of Legal requirements in employment selection and recruitment. Employment contracts are one of the legal requirements that are required by the employee from the employer as it provides job security and various protections for the employee. According to Vettori, S (2007:23), employment contract is an important requirement as it legally binds the employment agreement and provides the necessary rights to the employer. In addition to that, a written contract provides good grounds for negotiations before signing the employment contract. An employment contract provides the minimum length of the job, the agreed payment and job termination conditions. By signing the contract, the employer reduces the chances of being fired without proper notice, and also he/she gains payment guarantee. Relatively, the contract offers an instrument for collective agreement (Seweryński, 2003:12).Those employee that defy sighing of the contract may face disputes arising from misunderstanding as there is no written contract. Fairness in the process of recruiting and selecting employees is a very important legal requirement. According to acas (2011), the prospective employer should have legal responsibility in ensuring that acts such as discrimination doesn’t occur during employees recruitment and selection process. While discrimination is hard to precisely define; it can simply be defined as any action that entertains inappropriate and adverse results for an employee. A good example of discrimination includes refusal to hire a prospective employee because of the individuals age, firing a qualified employee because the employee belongs to a certain religion or is a citizen of a certain country. In addition, discrimination may include failure to promote a qualified employee because of say gender (an employee being a woman instead of a man). According to Robert et. al. (2009:143) it is unlawful for an employer to segregate employees on the basis of age. In general discrimination takes shape of biasness in form of sex, age, race, disability, age and religion or belief. The law provides necessary protection against all types or forms of discrimination. In countries like America, many different federal laws have been passed over the past 50 years. This has made the employer in America to be prohibited from discriminating on their employees. In Australia, recruitment and selection policies are outlined in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, and the Employment Equality Regulations which covers sexual orientation, religion or belief, and age and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. According to unhabitat (2006), there are some countries that still discriminate people and has not yet recognized the rights of everyone at a national level. Equality in the workplace is a legal regulation in the employment. It is an important part of the recruitment and selection process. According to BBC, (2010) everyone is protected by the new law against inequality. The Equality Act covers a lot in many workplace areas as it draws nine separate pieces of legislation into a single Act. It covers age, religion, disability, belief, maternity, sex, gender reassignment, civil marriage and partnership, pregnancy, race, gender and sexual orientation. Employers should offer training and encouragement to the under represented groups. This may be in form of application assistance to the prospective employees who do not understand the procedure. Relatively, employees should encourage applications from those groups that are under represented in the organisation. Application of fairness ensures that everybody is treated equally and this makes it important in recruiting and selection process. It’s important to note that, in Australia, the law stipulates protection measures in regard to fair and equal pay. The federal law requires employers to pay a minimum wage of $6.55 to $7.25 as from July 2009 to July 2010. In addition to that, the federal law requires that all employees fairly paid of their status (gender or sex). This translate that one cannot be paid less amount just because he/she is a woman or man. The minimum age of employment often varies from state to state in Australia according to the laid down legislative requirements of different states. Relatively, for majority of employees as from July 2009, the government engaged in the following restrictions that governed the minimum age of employment. According to NSW (New South Wales), the minimum legal age of employment outside school hours is 14 years (MacDonald 2011). This is for casual and part time employees. In case a person is 14 years but not yet 14 years and 9 months, a parent or guardian should give out a written consent for the person to work. Additionally, one must be able to clearly show during the interview that they have the ability to handle difficult work and have the required skills to fulfill the required position. In states like Victoria, child employment act 2003 governs the employment of children. It state that the minimum age of employment is 15 years of age. Relatively, in Queensland, one should be 16 years to commence working and if one has not finished year 10 in learning, he/she should provide a parental consent to commence working. In addition to that, all employees who are under 16 years may only be allowed to work 12 hours a week during a school week and 38 hours a week during school holiday. In addition, all hours of work should be between 6am and 10pm. In a state like the Western Australia, Children and Community Services Act of 2004 governs the employment of children . The School Education Act 1999, states that the minimum age of employment is 15 years of age. Relatively, Employees under 15 years of age requires a written parental consent to commence work and may only work between 6am and 10pm if the work is outside of school hours. In addition to that, legislation requires that children should compulsory attend school until they turn 17 years of age. The right to work in Australia is a legal requirement. All employees have the right to work in Australia. In case one is invited for an interview, there is need to demonstrate the right to work in Australia by providing an original of one of the documents such as an Australia Passport, Australia Citizenship Certificate and photo ID, Australian Birth Certificate and this must show that at least one parent was born in Australia. Incase it doesn’t show, one will be required to provide one parent’s current Australia Citizenship Certificate or Permanent Residence Visa, a New Zealand Passport with Australian Immigration Entry Stamp, foreign Passport with Permanent Residency Visa or a Foreign Passport with Visa work conditions 8104, 8105, 8417. In case of a success in interview, a copy of this document will be retained and filed in your file. Federal employments stipulate safety at workplaces as a legal requirement. This is an important aspect of law requirement that says that “workplaces be safe for employees even when the employees work in dangerous job position”. According to Viscusi (1983:1), there are several bodies that regulate that workplace safety. In Australia, workplace safety is regulated by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act). The organisation provides minimum safety standards for workplace safety. Without these protections, employees working in places like construction, mining or manufacturing would probably face much greater risk of injury on the job. In conclusion, employment law requirements are very important and should be followed by every employer and employee for better work force. Today, quality staff retention for any business is very important. In light of this, organizations need to revise their recruitment and retention policies to allow them to compete more effectively for staff. This is particularly those staff that holds skills that are in short supply. The law requirements should be adapted by every organisation and business in Australia and especially in recruiting and selection of employees as this strengthens the workforce. List of references aca (2011) Recruitment and selection: The importance of good recruitment and selection [online] available from < http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=746> [24 March 2011] BBC, (2010). New equality rights in workplace come into force, BBC news [online] available from [24 March 2010] MacDonald (2011) working requirements: what you should know [online] available from < http://mcdonalds.com.au/careers/working-here/requirements> [23 March 2011] pwc (2011) Employment & Workplace Relations [online] available from < http://www.pwc.com.au/legal/employment-workplace-relations.htm> [23 March 2011] Robert, K., Geralyn, M., Clure, F., Robert, F. (2009) Employment Regulation in the Workplace: Basic Compliance for Managers. M..E sharpe, inc: Newyork, USA Seweryński, M. (2003) Collective agreements and individual contracts of employment. Kluwer Law International, The Hague: Netherlands Unhabitat, (2006) Tools on Improving Women’s Secure Tenure Series 1, Number 2[online] available from [23 March 2011] Vettori, S. (2007).The employment contract and the changed world of work. Ashgate publishing limited, Hampshire: England Viscusi, K. (1983). Risk by choice: regulating health and safety in the workplace. The President and fellows of Harvard College: USA Read More