Updating employment contracts

[SuzanneC]

Thrown in the deep end on this one and would appreciate help on updating very old employment contracts for EEs (100+) who've got basic appointment letters, most without terms and conditions stated. Service levels are from 5-18 years. This is a private company in IT - software.

Can anyone guide me through the process of updating these employment contracts as I need to bring these upto speed with current terms and conditions.

Any recommends for how this is handled, communicated, language to use; is it best 1-1 or other format, logistically our EEs are spread thru-out AU, even remote bases.

Appreciate all responses

thanks so much

regards
Suzanne

[belinda]

Suzanne
I went through and updates our employment contracts at the beginning of the year, as the current one was approximately 20 pages long and was not overly inviting for a new employee.
I had an idea about what I wanted, looked at various samples, pulled what I wanted from these samples, and then put in what other items needed to be covered.
After I had a draft, I put it past a Lawyer for review.

Hope this helps.
Belinda

[kevinh]

Producing a new employment contract is relatively straightforward, although as Belinda said getting input from a lawyer is important, and it should be someone who is a specialist in employment law.

Also, be aware that certain aspects of employment law and contract law vary from State to State, but it is possible to come up with a contract that can be used universally.

However, getting a hundred people to sign new employment contracts isn't going to be easy. You will need to come up with some good reasons why they should sign a new contract!

I believe it is important to use straightforward language in the employment contract so it's important to use a lawyer who can (and is prepared to) draft it this way. It's much easier to get people to sign a document that they understand

Hope this helps.

Kevin

[HRIMHO]

All sage advice...

If you wanted to do a bit more research, go to Fair Work Australia's website and just have a look at the minimum conditions of employment (or Fair Work Standards or whatever they're called these days!) so you know what things you cannot change.

Also, consult whatever award (or collective agreement if you have one), which will also spell out the abosulte minimum that an employee is entitled to. Sometimes awards actually stipulate what needs to go in the employment contract.

If you are trying to change around a few of the conditions from previous contracts, yes you might have a tough battle getting it through with existing staff. You might have to end up with a messy hybrid approach and different employment conditions for different staff (i.e. new vs existing, those accepting vs. those who don't). Obviously a good communication and change management/implementation strategy would help with this.

And as everyone else has said, at the very least, run the final draft past an employment lawyer.

Resources: I know CCH Australia and AHRI have a few white papers which include employment contracts (though both places require subscription). Might be cheaper then getting the initial templates from a lawyer or something.

Good luck.

[SuzanneC]

thank you's to Belinda, KevinH and HRIMHO for your advice

I may have been a bit unclear on my original post, but we do have an employment agreement, in line with FWA and run past lawyers and in easy to understand language.

as HRIMHO and KevinH pointed out, I know I'm in for a tough battle but any suggestions / help on how to communicate this to those employees who are on very old, no T&Cs whatsoever... can you offer any language, communication styles, strategies on how to hopefully move these existing staff, with v.old contracts, updated to the new version we currently have.

thanks always

Suzanne

[andie]

Hi,
The way I have successfully changed employee terms in the past is to provide an incentive for the change i.e. at salary review time put their new salary in the new contract and therefore to get the new salary they need to sign the contract. Comms prior to the event have been via trusted managers/supervisors to advise that the terms are not new, but what they are currently under and by incorporating into a formal contract they have the protection that the Company can now not take away any benefit outlined within the contract without mutual agreement.

Do not know if this helps, but has definitely enabled me to successfully roll out changes to terms or new contracts in the past.

Good luck.
A

[michaelakassar]

Hi,

Before you draft the new contract, perhaps you might want to put some real benefits into it, which will only be available after signing. You shoud explain the benefits to staff to get them on board.

Here are a few benefits you may want to explore.

Purchased Leave
9 day fortnights
Flexible work arrangements, such as part time roles, job sharing, and flexible hours, including start/finish times
Time off in Lieu for additional hours worked.
Subsidised/discount childcare
1 free professional membership per year
Paid Study Leave and subsidised uni/TAFE courses.
If a family member dies, automatically give them 3 days Sick Leave on top of the 2 days Bereavement Leave (let's face it, no one is fit for work 2 days after the death of a family member and it takes about a week to organise funeral arrangements).
Discount health benefits like gym memberships and/or health insurance.

If you do not have one yet, it would be a good idea to bring in an Employee Assistance Program (regardless of what's in the new contract).

Hope this helps.



Cheers
Michaela

[kevinh]

Originally Posted by andie

Hi,
The way I have successfully changed employee terms in the past is to provide an incentive for the change i.e. at salary review time put their new salary in the new contract and therefore to get the new salary they need to sign the contract.

This could work, but if it is viewed as coercion then the new contracts may not be legally enforceable if tested in court, particularly if they were due a pay review anyway. A one time monetary "consideration" might be a better way to go.

Either way I would check with a specialist lawyer.

[HRIMHO]

I guess where you'd start would be doing a gap analysis of what the positives and negatives are to changing the contract.

I'd also probably suggest not going for the "it's neat and tidy if everyone signs new contracts" outcome that you might be after. At the end of the day, is it worth going through getting long term staff to sign a piece of paper that doesn't change much?

What might be better is to take somewhat of a hybrid approach. Change contracts for new employees and those willing to re-sign them, but change non-contract conditions and expectations by other means, for example by promoting a code of conduct, values, workplace behaviours, company ethos etc that don't have to be specifically written into contracts. Or change workplace policies, whereby even in unsigned contracts, there is some legal obligation to obey policies as such.

That way, it might not be as neat, but you do get the outcomes that you sought to begin with.

[Tasman McManis]

Suzanne,

As you have sound contracts aligned with the FWA, I think you are in position to indicate to employees: "with all the changes in employment legislation that the company needs contracts of employment that clearly spell out all the details (T&C's)".

Direct managers and supervisors are usually the people most trusted by employees. First convincing the managers and supervsors and responding to their concerns should produce a document that these people are happy to "sell" to their employees on your behalf.

The change process could include initial information sessions for employees setting the scene/background with details indicating no change or possible improvements/flexibility to conditions. I suggest you cost these benefits and discuss with the Line as sometimes they can be expensive and hard to manage in practice.

You didn't mention the salary range of the people involved or their actual work activities, but this is important as there are reports that the advent of the modern awards could see employees in IT not previously covered by awards caught in the net. This will have an impact on the contract of employment given to employees.

Regards Tasman

[AlexT]

Hi Suzanne,

Looking at this post after the new laws have come in 1st Jan, I am wondering if your employment contracts include a high income earner reference to protect you from unfair dismissal claims in the future?

Employees earning above $108,300 may be deemed high income earners and therefore not be eligible to bring unfair dismissal claims against the business. This is something I have been including in my clients employment contracts where relevant since the beginning of January. You may have already done this.