Family and domestic violence (FDV) is at crisis levels in Australia. Workplaces have an active role to play in supporting employees who are experiencing FDV. Our Managing Director, Sarah Queenan spoke with Karen Oldaker, Senior Executive for Wellbeing and Shared Value of Medibank about some of the steps they are taking to support employees.

We spoke with Frances Crimmins, Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Canberra about how they implemented a four-day working week tailored to their business model, to offer flexibility to their valued employees, balanced against providing quality services to the community.

Hands up if you’ve ever worked in a toxic workplace? Well, just about everyone has had an experience with a toxic boss, manager or co-worker that has left them with more questions than answers. In this article, Australian Psychologist Rebecca O’Brien unpacks how surviving that toxic workplace might just be the best thing that has ever happened to you.

What if there was a way to create flexible working arrangements that met the unique needs of both the individual employee and organisation?  Well, the solution is the not-so-well-known Individual Flexibility Agreements (IFA’s).  An IFA is a workplace relations mechanism that is now being more regularly utilised by employers and employees who want to create flexible working arrangements that are sustainable and ultimately, genuinely work and meet the needs of the organisation and employee.

Humanify HR Consulting was pleased to host the recent ACT AHRI event "Industrial Relations in 2024" at the East Hotel in Canberra. This article provides a summary of the key items discussed by the panel, including key takeaways for employers to consider.

The 2024 International Women’s Day official UN Women Australia-led theme this year is Count Her In: Invest in Women and Accelerate Progress. To mark the occasion, we spoke with our Founder and Managing Director of Humanify HR Consulting, Sarah Queenan to share her lived experience as a young female leader and business owner, including steps she believes we can take to support more women to excel in the modern world of work.

Improve your HR policies with our comprehensive resource. Understanding that not every organisation is at the same stage when it comes to HR policy development, the guide recommends the right HR policy settings against different organisational maturity levels. This comprehensive resource provides a robust framework to assess the efficiency of your HR policies, aligned to the maturity level of your organisation. Designed to be used as internal assessment and benchmarking tool, this guide will enable you to gauge the effectiveness your existing HR policy framework.

Fair Work is the name of the workplace relations system, that governs the employment relationship in Australia. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) is the legislation that sets out important employment laws in Australia. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) sets the minimum terms and conditions, known as the National Employment Standards (NES), for the majority of employees in Australia that are covered by the national workplace relations system. The Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Commission play an integral role in the effective operation of the Fair Work system in Australia.

The ‘Right to Disconnect’ provides legal protections for employees who reject the “always on” work culture and make the choice to prioritise healthy work/life balance. It imposes penalties on employers who don’t support employees disconnecting from work. This new law is expected to operate similarly to the current anti-bullying provisions in the Fair Work Act.

An enterprise agreement, under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) can be a single-enterprise agreement or involve multiple entities, known as a multi-enterprise agreement. Enterprise agreements are increasing in popularity in the Australian workplace relations system.

The workplace relations framework that underpins the support employers must provide employees experiencing FDV has changed substantially over the past few years.  We have prepared this article as a practical resource for managers and leaders to refer to when responding to FDV.

With changes this year to our workplace health and safety laws, that place a positive duty to prevent psychosocial hazards in the workplace like burnout, at the end of the year when the burnout risk is higher it is important to take steps to beat burnout.

STRENGTHENING HR LEADERSHIP: CELEBRATING RECENT GRADUATES OF THE HR LEADERSHIP IN PRACTICE PROGRAM

24 November 2023: Humanify HR Consulting on 21-22 November 2023 delivered the HR Leadership in Practice (HRLP) program, which proved to be a transformative experience for HR leaders from various sectors.

The HRLP was launched in 2021 by Humanify HR Consulting, designed specifically for HR practitioners to equip them with the capability to lead HR in the complex, challenging and uncertain environments that define the modern world of work.

Just when many business leaders and owners thought they may be able to take a breath from the amount of IR reform, the Federal Government has recently announced a second phase of proposed change through the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 (the Bill).

At the most recent AHRI National Convention held in Brisbane, our Managing Director, Sarah Queenan, joined a panel of HR/IR experts and lawyers to discuss the role of regulators, unions, employee bargaining representatives, and the employee support person.

The industrial relations framework has evolved in a determined and methodical way over the last 120 years in Australia. Respecting and understanding this system helps inform how organisations might progress with flexible working to ensure we get it right both now and in the future.

The National Employment Standards (NES) provides a right for employees to request flexible working arrangements in certain circumstances. Want to know more about these changes? Join us on the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) National Webinar on Wednesday 12 July to hear us share practical tips and strategies employers can put in place to effectively respond to requests for flexible work. The webinar is FREE for AHRI members.

Making life transitions can be hard. You might be thinking of starting a business, making a career change or another type of big life change. We spoke with our Founder & Managing Director, Sarah Queenan to share some personal ‘mindset tips’ to help you make a courageous change in your life.

We know that the complexity of the environment that Human Resources (HR) practitioners operate in continues to elevate, making it essential for HR to possess strong technical skills and awareness of how workplace relations underpin the effective operation of the entire HR function. The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 has added further complexity to the operating environment HR must effectively navigate on behalf of organisations. From our work with some of the best in HR, here are some of the three key areas great HR teams are focusing on when it comes to workplace relations changes.

The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 represents one of the most significant changes to the Australian workplace relations landscape in over a decade.  One of the areas of reform has been introduced to prohibit pay secrecy.  Employees under these new provisions have an additional workplace right to share information or ask other employees about their pay and other terms and conditions of employment.