Advice Employing staff and apprentices

Employing staff and apprentices

Business

Employing staff and apprentices

Business

As your decorating business develops you are likely to want to recruit more staff or apprentices. This can be one of the most important elements involved in making a growing business a success.

This section is designed to provide a few starting points to help you with recruitment. It does not provide a comprehensive statement of the law, nor does it constitute legal or financial advice. You should always seek specialist legal or financial advice to suit your circumstances.

Recruiting new staff

It may sound obvious, but the first step when thinking of employing new staff is to be absolutely sure of what kind of employee you want. Taking on new people costs time and money, particularly in the early stages, so it's important to make sure you get the worker who fits the bill.

A good idea is to write down a brief job description outlining the exact skills, amount of experience and maybe even personality of the person you are looking for.

You might then consider whether any of your existing employees have the right abilities or whether they could be given training.

If you are thinking of replacing an employee who has left, first ask yourself if they actually need replacing. If they do, consider the reasons they left so that you are more likely to be able to retain their replacement.

Once you've decided on what kind of person you need to recruit, the next stage is to decide whether they are needed on a full or part-time basis, and whether they are going to be a permanent member of staff or employed on a fixed term contract to help with a temporary increase in work.

Employing part-time workers

If your workload fluctuates and you need to keep costs down, then employing part-time workers could be a good solution. You are less likely to pay them during lean spells and your company can stay flexible, responding quickly to increases in work.

But remember that part-time employees are entitled to the same rights and benefits as full time employees in proportion to the hours they work.

Employing contractors and subcontractors

When your company doesn't have all the specific skills to complete a project or the workload suddenly becomes more than you can handle, one answer is to contract out the work.

Before taking on contractors or subcontractors however, it is worth bearing in mind that they tend to cost more than an equivalent employee. Also they do have some of the same entitlements as your own employees. Contractors or subcontractors do have workplace rights and protections but have different insurance, tax and super responsibilities.

ATO summarises the critical difference between an employee and independent contractor as follows. An employee serves in your business and performs their work as a representative of your business whereas an independent contractor provides services to your business and performs work to further their own business.

In certain circumstances you must pay superannuation for contractors who are deemed to be employees for superannuation purposes. To find out more, you can visit: https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Employee-or-contractor/Difference-between-employees-and-contractors/#Superannuationforcertaincontractors

You should also check with your insurance provider that any contractors and subcontractors you hire are covered in your existing policy.

Taking on apprentices

Apprenticeships in the decorating business have been designed by people within the industry to give trainee decorators the grounding and skills they need for their trade. You can use apprenticeships to train your existing staff or take on somebody new, already in training. Either way you'll be investing in the future of your business. Potential entry level qualifications for apprenticeship are as follows.

Certificate II in Construction Pathways
Certificate III in Painting and Decorating

Apprentices need support and supervision to learn and develop. Consider whether it is right for business. Do you have the time and skills to support an apprentice so that they can complete tasks safely and correctly.

If you wish to hire an apprentice, an Australian Apprenticeship Support Network provider is your first point of contact to get started. They connect apprentices and trainees with employers and support you throughout your apprenticeship.

Group Training Organisations recruit apprentices and trainees and match them with host employers. They provide ongoing support to apprentices, trainees and host employers.

Learn what financial support and incentives you may be eligible for as an apprentice or employer. To find out more, you can visit: https://www.apprenticeships.gov.au/support-and-resources/incentives-explorer

How to start the recruitment process

As already mentioned, successfully finding the right candidate is much more likely when you have a clear understanding of what type of person you want and what the job involves. Putting together a simple job description will help you focus on this. It's also a big help if you decide to advertise.

A job description doesn't need a lot of detail but should cover the following:

Job title
Position in the company
Who the person will report to
Who will report to the employee
Location
Outline of duties and tasks
Pay and conditions

Where to find the right candidate

Finding reliable employees with the right skills can take time and patience, but there are a number of options to maximise your chances of success.

Advertising for employees

It costs relatively little to advertise for staff in local newspapers and trade publications, but of course the larger the ad the more it will cost, so keep the description of the job clear, concise, and attractive. Explain what experience you are looking for and how to apply. It's also important to make sure the advertisement doesn't discriminate on ground such as sex, race, age, religion, or disability.

Using an employment agency

If you want to hand your recruitment over to professionals, then an employment agency dealing with the decorating trade is an option. They have existing databases of people in the area and can advertise on your behalf. It will save you time wading through every applicant as they will draw up a suitable shortlist, but this route can be expensive as you pay the agency a percentage of the employee's annual salary.

Using internet

Advertising on online directories like Seek, or at social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Indeed can be a good option too.

Interviewing the candidates

You can tell quite a bit about the people interested in your job from their applications, but once you've drawn up a shortlist the next step is an interview so you can really get to know each other and decide who is most suitable.

Make sure you spend a bit of time preparing to interview candidates. Revisit the applications and decide on a handful of key questions, particularly if the candidate seems to have particular strengths or areas of weakness. Try to think of questions which get the candidate talking, rather than just giving a 'yes' or 'no' response.

The best interviews are reasonably relaxed occasions - you're not giving somebody a grilling, so make sure you are well prepared with the time and space to do the job properly. Here are a few pointers:

Avoid being disturbed during the interview, either by phone or people coming into the room.
Make sure you've got enough time to cover everything and make notes afterwards.
When you meet the candidate, introduce yourself and explain what form the interview will be taking.
Tell them about your company and confirm what the job will involve.
Don't rush the person you are interviewing - you'll get better answers if they feel they have time to think.
At the end of the interview ask the candidate if they have anything they'd like to ask you.
Let the candidate know when they will be hearing from you about your decision.

As soon as the interview is finished, make a record of what was said to help with your decision making.

If you have carried out the interview fairly everything should be fine, but it's worth remembering that your notes can be used in an employment tribunal if the candidate makes a complaint for any reason, including accusations of discrimination, so avoid any careless remarks.

How employment contracts work

As soon as a job offer is accepted, a contract of employment exists. This can be just by word of mouth, but it's much better to put down the terms of the contract in writing straight away. This can save a lot of trouble if there is any dispute.

You must give your new employee a written statement of their main terms of employment. This should include the following:

The employer's name and address
The employee's name
Date employment commenced
The place where the employee reports for work and the address of the employer
Job title or brief job description
Employee's pay, including how it is calculated and when payment is made e.g. weekly or monthly
Hours of work
Period of employment - if the work is to be temporary or for a fixed term then the period the employment is for and/or the date it is to end should be included
Holiday entitlement and pay
Sick pay arrangements
Employment benefits e.g. bonuses, overtime rates, paid holiday etc
Notice periods - the length of notice required from both parties
Grievance and disciplinary procedures - who the person should speak to if they have a grievance and what the disciplinary rules are

There is a great deal about employment contracts and how they work on the FairWork website - Get started | Employment Contract Tool | business.gov.au

The legal side of employment

As soon as your business employs people, you must follow a number of legal requirements. Many of these are designed to protect the rights of your employees, while others relate to issues such as employees' tax, super, working time and health and safety.

https://business.gov.au/people/employees

National Employment Standards

Anybody you employ has automatic statutory rights, with some of them applying from the day they start work. Others come into force after they've been employed for a specific period of time.

The Fair Work Commission

They're responsible for maintaining a safety net of minimum wages and employment conditions. They also have a range of other workplace functions and regulation. Please visit their site to learn about your rights and responsibilities.

https://www.fairwork.gov.au/workplace-problems/preventing-workplace-problems/know-your-rights-and-obligations#employers

Minimum entitlements

The National Employment Standards (NES) are 11 minimum employment entitlements that apply to most employees.

The NES and the National Minimum Wage make up the minimum entitlements for most employees in Australia.

The Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS) contains information about the NES and other minimum entitlements. The FWIS has to be provided to all new employees by their employer.

Further Assistance

There are a number of websites and organizations you can contact for additional help and support:

The above information is correct at the time of writing (November 2023) but please check the details are up to date with the various organisations listed.

The contents of this guidance are for information only and no guarantee, representation or warranty of any kind is given (whether express or implied) in relation to any of the information, advice or opinions expressed in it. Whilst AkzoNobel have made all reasonable efforts to ensure that statements appearing in this guidance are accurate, AkzoNobel disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the information, advice and opinions contained in this guidance. AkzoNobel reserves the right to make any amendments or alterations to this guidance at any time, without notice.