Multiple sexual assault and sexual harassment complaints from workers and staffers at Parliament House in Canberra this year have been a cautionary tale for many organisations on how not to handle a serious workplace incident.
Here are 14 best-practice recommendations drawn from the Foster report that can help to improve your organisation’s response should a serious work place incident occur in your workplace.
Every organisation has expectations of how their staff should behave at work. But without writing down those expectations, it’s easy for misunderstandings or differing expectations to form among your staff and volunteers.
To help avoid this, more NFPs are turning to a written employee code of conduct to provide clear expectations about what how staff should or shouldn’t behave at work.
Beyond its obvious health impact, the economic impact of COVID-19 is huge. Many NFPs are unfortunately facing some of the toughest decisions in HR and recruitment — reducing work hours, standing down employees and redundancies.
These are difficult conversations to have, but there are some simple points to bear in mind that can ease the process for everyone.
The Councils of Social Service (COSS) Network is partnering with Professor David Gilchrist (University of Western Australia) for a focused, free webinar on the applicability and accounting for JobKeeper payments. This webinar will cover the key elements and considerations for applying for JobKeeper Payments for staff at not-for-profits (NFPs) and charities.
Research shows a significant correlation between the experience of domestic violence and reduced lifetime earnings. Some studies in the United States show a 25 per cent loss in income associated with abuse.
On 1 August 2018, the Fair Work Commission’s ruling that anyone working under a modern award is entitled to five days’ unpaid leave if they are affected by domestic violence came into effect – a welcome development.
While this legislation is certainly a step in the right direction, does it go far enough? And how does this ruling affect your NFP?
Spurred into action by the global #MeToo movement, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has announced a national inquiry into sexual harassment in Australian workplaces.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins says the global conversation about sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement has exposed the true prevalence of the problem and the harm it causes to individuals, workplaces and society.
Lawyers are warning that a recent decision by the Fair Work Commission should make employers “very cautious when attempting to classify their junior or low-paid employees as ‘award free’”.
While most employees in the NFP sector are covered by a Modern Award, if your organisation has previously assumed that some junior employees aren’t covered by an award, you’ll now need to reassess that – or potentially be faced with future underpayment claims.
NFPs aren’t doing enough to protect whistleblowers.
That’s according to the largest survey ever into the topic, examining policies and procedures around whistleblowing at over 700 organisations in Australia and New Zealand.
Protecting whistleblowers is crucial for stamping out fraud or wrongdoing. This post explains exactly where the problems are, and key areas your organisation should focus on to improve.
How does your organisation balance the sometimes-conflicting needs of your staff and clients?
A recent landmark legal ruling highlights the potentially dire consequences of failing to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of your staff.