RECRUITMENT & CO Winter 2022 The Association of Professional Staffing Companies in Australia
Managing your people risks Guidance from Squire Patton Boggs
Why L&D success means business success LinkedIn's Adam Gregory explains
Why culture eats strategy for breakfast
Highlights from Emerge 2022 at the Sydney Opera House
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What's inside?
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10 16 6 From the APSCo Chair: Stephen Smith 8 Association News
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10 A new phase for the Ayers Group 11 The importance of ESG, by Anthony Whyte 13 Culture eats strategy for breakfast, by Andrew Turner 15 Managing your people risks 16 Highlights from Emerge 2022 28 What's a contract go to do with it? 30 L&D success means business success 33 Starting the new fin year with compliance in mind 35 Getting your business under control when you're busy 37 Using evidence in bid responses
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Recruitment & Co is published by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies Australia (APSCo Australia). Editorial submissions: carly@apscoau.org Advertising enquiries: carly@apscoau.org Membership enquiries: paul@apscoau.org
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR MD
Readying for change is the smartest approach
Lesley Horsburgh Managing Director APSCo Australia
It’s hard to believe we are halfway through 2022 already. While all signs are pointing toward a slowdown, market conditions are still at record levels, with Members and the broader industry claiming conditions like they’ve never seen before. How long this bullish market will continue is hard to say, depending on what you read or who you listen to we are either hurtling towards a world of pain or coasting along a long albeit inevitable road to a slow-down. Whatever way you choose to view the recruitment market, readying for change is the smartest approach right now, particularly when it comes to compliance and legislation. While we currently have limited depth of detail on just how far and how soon Labors’ plans will impact our industry, there is no doubt that deeper layers of compliance are afoot and businesses need to ready themselves for more change. APSCo will continue to inform its members of such change through its ongoing calendar of webinars, committees and networks. Our reputation for leading content across legal and compliance matters has built tremendously in the last twelve months, thanks to our valued partners and is an area we will continue to develop in the coming years. The recent Emerge 2022 conference at Sydney Opera House is a showcase of our work in these areas, this year saw 150 professionals gather to hear industry experts discuss legislation, flexible working, market conditions, branding, immigration and more. On a lighter note, we are extremely delighted to have announced our awards for 2022 and look forward to hosting a night of nights at the stunning Luminare, Melbourne, in November. We have some very special plans and hope to see you there!
LESLEY HORSBURGH APSCo Australia Managing Director
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www.apscoau.org
A MESSAGE FROM APSCO'S AUSTRALIAN CHAIR
Whatever happens, APSCo will be here to provide support Steve Smith Director, Sirius People
We hope those members and non members who came to our conference, Emerge 2022, at the Sydney Opera House enjoyed the event. Initial immediate feedback was very positive with attendees communicating that it was an amazing day with very varied content and tangible takeaways that can be used immediately inside our own businesses. Thanks to Lesley and the team for putting together such a good day! The conference built upon the inaugural conference from last year, punctuated by the long lock down that started in June soon after. As we look at where we have arrived at the end of this financial year with many, many things back to pre lockdown norms, it's incredible to think what a year it has been. With a continued run in the recruitment markets many companies are publicly communicating strong growth and for some "best ever years". But as we know things do not ever stay the same and it seems strange to have come through 2-3 years of natural disasters, in floods and fires, global pandemics and now the narrative turns to global recession and economic downturn. I hope you have had a great 2022 and whatever happens in FY 2023, APSCo will be there providing thought leadership, guidance support and much more.
STEVE SMITH Director, Sirius People, APSCo Australia Chair
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www.apscoau.org
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Certification delivering 'real value' The six learning areas: Privacy Equal Opportunity and Anti-Discrimination Reference Checking Licensing and Regulation Workplace Migration APSCo's Code of Conduct Contact Janielle Wilson to enrol E: janielle@apscoau.org
The Exclaim IT group continue to realise the benefits of APSCo Australia's Certified Staffing Professional Program. With every person on the team certified, Andrew Johnson, General Manager - Recruitment Services, says he feels confident in their ability to navigate the often-complex recruitment landscape. Even new starters at Exclaim IT complete their certification as a priority. "With certification comes a greater understanding of what it takes to be trusted in this industry, and trust is integral to being a successful recruiter," Andrew said. "Our people are now more aware of privacy and anti-discrimination laws and other risk management essentials. "The program complements our comprehensive internal training and is fundamental to ensuring compliance, quality service delivery and a better working environment." Senior Connections Partner Natalie Fisher agrees that the program has added real value to her role. "I now have a better understanding of the complex elements of compliance when managing talent and clients," she said. RECRUITMENT & CO | 8
Talent appoints two new Global Executives Talent has appointed Georgia Kelaher to the company as Global Chief People Officer, and Megan Woodbury joins as Global Chief Financial Officer, effective July 1. Yaron Segal, Talent Global Chief Financial Officer, will transition into a Global Chief Commercial Officer role. Both Georgia and Megan will work closely with Talent’s Global CEO, Mark Nielsen, and the wider Talent team, focusing on the growth of the company both domestically and internationally.
Georgia will be working with the company's People & Culture team across all locations that Talent operates in, leading the global execution of P&C initiatives in alignment with Talent’s growth ambitions and drive for innovation and ideation. Megan will work closely with Talent’s global finance team, and the wider leadership team. In her role she will be responsible for managing the financial growth of the global Talent business, working on initiatives with the Talent Board to further enhance financial outcomes, and leading global strategies within Talent, Avec, Solutions, and Talent RISE.
Yaron will be responsible for ensuring Talent’s digital platforms and systems are globalised and match the growth expectations of the group. He will also be responsible for enhancing the effectiveness of Talent’s core delivery capability, maximising returns on Talent’s service streams and working with the leadership team on ad-hoc commercial initiatives. Talent Global CEO, Mark Nielsen, said he is thrilled on the new appointments, “As we take Talent to the next level with increased market share, new service streams, and continued globalisation, I believe the addition of Megan and Georgia and realignment of Yaron’s role, provides Talent with the executive bandwidth to capitalise on new opportunities and deliver on our ambitious future strategy.”
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A new phase for the Ayers Group Following the acquisition of APSCo Affiliate Partner, Ayers Group by People2.0 in April this year, we asked Ayers Managing Director Colin Cuthbert to tell us more about the company's next phase. What does this mean for clients of the Ayers Group? This partnership will allow our customers to engage any candidate, in any work arrangement, anywhere in the world, in full compliance with any regulation. Over time, our considered collaboration with People2.0 will present enhanced customer benefits: Consistent best practice service delivery experience across all jurisdictions Strengthened financial standing Increased innovation with updated technology and process efficiencies Access to global industry knowledge and compliance expertise How will the brand be integrated long term – will the Ayers Group name continue? People2.0 has ambitions to service globally under one brand and currently does so in over 40 countries. As such, Ayers will rebrand to People2.0 in a staged approach over the coming months. We are committed to keeping our customers informed throughout this process, so please look for these communications.
Colin Cuthbert, Managing Director, Ayers Group What does this mean in terms of market share/position for the Ayers Group/People2.0? Ayers complements People2.0's existing Australian operations with our specialisation in servicing the recruitment industry in the Australian and New Zealand community. Our combined presence makes People2.0 the market leader in Australia. Are there any plans afoot for expanded services, product launches, etc? We have already received a lot of interest from existing clients who wish to place workers overseas, so that has been a big win for them already, and we hope to be able to offer enhanced funding capability to our clients shortly. Tell us a little bit more about what it means for the Ayers team in Australia? The Ayers team is now made up of 25 members, and this number continues to grow.
The team's energy around the merge has been hugely positive. We have recently kicked off our integration program, and after spending dedicated time with the APAC People2.0 team, it has reinforced how customercentric we are and how much our values align. On a day-today basis, we are already benefiting from People2.0's capability, including leveraging the People2.0 inhouse global and regional legal teams for any compliance assurance queries, which is a big help to our clients and us. People2.0 will focus wholly on the recruitment agency market - that obviously means a real specialism in terms of service – what can you share with us about the strategy both here in Australia and globally? People2.0 will focus on the talent ecosystem and can assist any providers wishing to deploy workers/ outsource employment and payroll, and Ayers' sweet spot is staffing and secruitment. RECRUITMENT & CO | 10
ANTHONY WHYTE- TALENT
The importance of ESG You’ve more than likely heard the term ESG being spoken about within the walls of business, but let’s take a good look at why in this candidate short market, companies need to be prioritising this in order to retain and attract top talent.
Anthony Whyte General Manager, Talent APSCo Australia Vice-Chair
Don’t think of this as another policy. This is a chance for your business to create brilliant opportunities for your people. It’s the ability to create and sustain value in an ever-growing and changing world of work, as well as being able to manage risks and opportunities associated with these changes. ESG is also not something just for big businesses to adopt. There are many small businesses doing brilliant things in this space. The events of the past two years have essentially opened quite a few doors in this space. As we have seen with ‘The Great Resignation’, COVID, and a whole heap of social issues, the world of work has a new focus – playing a bigger part in what morally and socially matters – and the pressure is on for businesses to deliver. If you are a business though, there are a stack of reasons why a brilliant ESG strategy will benefit you and your business in the long run which include: 1. Attracting and retaining top talent 2. Engagement and culture 3. Brand presence and reputation within your industry 4. Long term business value and opportunity management Think of initiatives like your parental leave policy, office recycling, employee engagement, and DEIB; the list is endless. Your P&C team will usually be the ones leading the charge, but more and more team members are becoming vocal and insisting this is pushed to the forefront of business strategies, especially the Millennials and Gen Z'ers. With Gen Z entering the job market at a rapid pace, and statistics from McCrindle stating that by 2025 they will make up 27% of the workforce, both Gen Z and Millennials are fueling the fire on ESG plans and are holding businesses accountable for it. More and more people are demanding worklife balance, things other than drinks on a Friday afternoon, and above all to feel that they are valued within an organisation. These are easy things to work on and the outcomes are invaluable. So, the question is posed, what does a great ESG strategy look like for your company?
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STEPHEN VENESS - DAVIDSON
The only way is up One of my highlights of the last few months came in what many would consider to be an unlikely place… a State Government Procurement Forum. Stephen Veness Group Manager - Strategic Partnerships, Davidson As was recently announced to members, APSCo now has a seat at the table as part of the Queensland Procurement Industry Advisory Group (QPIAG). QPIAG is a collection of stakeholders, representing the overall Queensland economy which meets at least twice every year with the most senior levels of the State Government (including Minister De Brenni – who holds responsibility for procurement within his portfolio). The meetings allow for all areas of industry to collaborate, raise issues and have an important voice with government, helping to shape policy decisions and raise key concerns. In addition to the meeting with the Minister, a break-out workshop was held in which the senior stakeholders within the Department of Housing & Public Works (where central procurement sits) worked with the QPIAG
members to work through challenges, areas of focus and opportunities. While the topic can tend to be a little dry at times, the opportunity for APSCo and our members to have an opportunity to inform policy of such importance is a significant step forward. The ability to work constructively with government through fitfor-purpose procurement channels is essential to our membership within the state. What made the process a genuine highlight was the realisation that the appetite within government to work with our sector (and all areas for that matter) felt genuine and constructive. There is a clear acknowledgement that the period that lies ahead is one of unprecedented growth and opportunity… and that with this comes a huge challenge to address skills shortages and access to the talent that can deliver on the growth.
Acknowledgement, however, does not always naturally translate into tangible, constructive progress and so the opportunity to bring these issues to the fore is an important step in allowing our members to partner with government in the best way possible. Having this platform with government is a positive step forward for APSCo and our members and we are looking forward to giving a voice to the sector in Queensland around such important areas. If the early signs are anything to go by it should be a very constructive dialogue and only see upside for our industry.
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ANDREW TURNER - MEDACS GLOBAL
Culture eats strategy for breakfast as the famous quote from Peter Drucker goes In the recruitment industry we can at times be focused on the KPI, the goal and financial outcome to the detriment of all else. But does that really create a sustainable business? It may create a successful business in the short or medium term but how is long term success achieved if the organisation lacks a culture to sustain it and its people?
At APSCo's Emerge conference in Sydney, the morning panel discussion hosted by Greg Savage helped to crystalise the importance of culture and how focusing on getting it right will help to future proof our businesses. Each of the industry leaders that were on stage spoke with honesty about how they had navigated the pandemic, and covid had provided a circuit breaker to really look at their businesses. Be it investing in people, developing future leaders, redesigning their work environment, or making use of digital tools. For me each of their actions spoke of having a strategic vision for their business but also one that recognised the importance of culture and the role that it plays to ensure sustainability.
Andrew Turner Director - Specialist Staffing APAC, Medacs Global Group
From my own personal experience, a lot of what the panel talked about, we have acted on, maybe not in the the same way, but we have recognised the changing landscape and have focused our efforts increasingly on culture, engagement and whether our people feel that they belong at Impellam.
As our industry navigates the inevitable upheaval that will come post-covid, I believe it will be those organisations that focus on their culture that will ultimately succeed.
A key component of culture stems from inclusivity and, that our people are supported to thrive and be their authentic self at work – this is an area where we require listening, learning and understanding.
Will we get it right each time?
As it will be those organisations that retain the best talent and whose people are best equipped to respond to change.
No. Will we keep trying? Yes, absolutely yes.
These are not actions or measures that deliver immediate results, but I have a firm view that if we can get this right the results, reward and success will come.
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JOHN MCCLUSKEY - WHIZDOM RECRUITMENT
Canberra market and beyond… Over the past few years, we have seen a large requirement for contract and labour hire services in Canberra and many recruiters have been run off their feet and reporting record years. But, are the good times about to end, and are there wider concerns across the professional staffing and ICT sectors?
Projects and spending in Government and private sectors to support COVID programs, remote working and lockdowns are coming to an end. We have had a change of Federal Government that has a mandate to cut government spending on contractors and consultants by 3 billion dollars and remove the hiring caps on the Australian Public Sector (APS). On top of this the new Government wants large tech firms to pay more tax. We have already seen the first signs of support contracts and contractors not being renewed by Federal Departments as reported in the Canberra Times on Sunday, 12th June 2022.
Some of these contractors will be engaged directly by these departments on either a casual or permanent basis, either way not a great outcome for labour hire and recruitment firms operating in the ACT. The tech sector is struggling with high costs to engage talent locally, labour shortages due to low immigration for the past two years, long delays in sponsoring overseas workers, higher operational and insurance costs, higher interest and inflation rates, and a government that wants to tax them more.
John McCluskey Managing Director Whizdom Recruitment
With many professional roles being identified to support remote work, this means the work does not have to be done locally or in Australia. Not surprisingly to remain competitive, we have seen an appetite to offshore work for specialist skills where labour is more freely available, cheaper, and better operating conditions for business. While conditions for recruitment firms with a presence in the ACT are still strong, we will be watching the market conditions locally and nationally closely over the coming 12 months.
We are even hearing the ‘R’ word (Recession) being thrown around.
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Managing your people risks Premium Partner, Squire Patton Boggs (SPB), has been advising and supporting members for 12 months. Nicola Martin, Partner in the Sydney Labour & Employment (L&E) team shares how she and her team guide members and their other clients to manage their people risks. The L&E team at SPB prides itself on innovative and commercially oriented legal advice. We also understand the value of practical advice, given that workplace issues usually require more than legal diagnosis. Our expertise covers all aspects of the employment lifecycle: • Termination, redundancy and workplace restructuring • Employment aspects of cross-border transactions • Industrial relations and union issues • Performance management processes and strategies • Discrimination and equal opportunity • Workplace investigations • Employee data management and privacy issues • Employment and safety litigation • Management of ill and injured workers • Policy advice and documentation • Workplace health and safety • Global mobility and migration law • Employment Contract and independent contractor agreement drafting and review In April this year we welcomed Kim Hodge, Partner, to our Perth office. Kim brings a unique
perspective as he combines his skills and knowledge in employment law with previous practical experience as a human resources manager, industrial relations advisor, labour market economist and industrial inspector. We look forward to introducing Kim to you at upcoming webinars.
Nicola Martin, Squire Patton Boggs
The hot topic this year for members has been the implications of the High Court decisions in February 2022. However, the other types of support we have been offering to clients includes the introduction and development of hybrid, remote working and the ‘future of work’ policies, procedures and the associated changes to contractual documentation. One of the most interesting developments over the last 12 months has been the employment and tax issues arising from employees working overseas, either temporarily or permanently. This has been an increasing reality for a number of our clients, as their employees were either unable to travel back to Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions or resulting from the ‘war on talent’ that sees it increasingly competitive to attract or retain personnel.
Kim Hodge, Squire Patton Boggs Remember that APSCo members have access to the SPB Advice Line, which offers 20 minutes of complementary advice on employment law issues. More details can be found here. Our team looks forward to continuing to work with members as we grapple with Labor’s intended IR reforms over the next few months. Whilst many of the details are not yet known, what we do know is that it will be another busy year for employee and industrial relations issues.
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Major Sponsor
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2022
OUR FULL DAY CONFERENCE CONNECTED LEADERS LOOKING FOR GUIDANCE, INSIGHT AND NETWORKING WITH HIGH CALIBRE EXPERTS AND BUSINESS CRITICAL INFORMATION.
APSCo Australia's Emerge Conference returned for its much-anticipated follow-up on May 12.
Steve Smith, APSCo Chair
Lesle
150 attendees joined together at the Sydney Opera House for a full day of executive level learning. Conference-goers heard from 16 experts over the course of the day, followed by some much overdue cocktail networking. The day kicked off with a high-level economic update from Westpac's Besa Deda.
Lesley Horsburgh, APSCo MD
"I thoroughly enjoyed Besa's presentation." Sarah, South West Personnel "Loved the Westpac Chief Economist at the beginning - so insightful." Besa Deda, Westpac Business Bank Chief Economist
Amy, Frank Consult
Panel: Legislation and what lies ahead
Our panel of experts, led by facilitator Ross Clennett discussed the current legislative challenges that face the professional recruitment industry as workplaces navigate an evolving backdrop of hybrid models and changes in regulation, compliance and Immigration.
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1 Ross Clennett, RossClennett.com 2 George Haros, Gadens 3 The Panel 4 Martin Richardson, Ready Set Recruit Legal 5 Maroun Elias, EY 6 Nicola Martin, Squire Patton Boggs
Panel: Responding to changing market conditions
businesses - all responding to changing market conditions with some
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fascinating approaches.
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Panel: The Innovators responding to market conditions
Facilitator Greg Savage dug into the details behind 3 very different
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7 Greg Savage, The Savage Truth 8
Emily McLeod, WOW Recruitment
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The Panel
10 Simon Hair, Precision Sourcing 11 Greg Savage 12
12 Mark Smith, people2people
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Simon Hammond and 50 Crates: Make People Matter
Simon Hammond from 50 Crates and his special guests discussed the social experiment that helped unsuspecting recruiters from Zoom Recruitment understand what it really means to Make People Matter.
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"50 Crates' presentation was amazing! " Joanna, MAYDAY Recruitment Group 1 Simon Hammond, 50 Crates 2 Mark Weir, Zoom Recruitment 3 The recruiters join Simon on-stage 4 Zoom Recruitment 5 Attendees watch on 6 Umal and Lisa from Zoom 6
explored how recruitment firms have implemented D&I initiatives, the impact they had, and the lessons learned. It also dived into how clients are approaching D&I in their hiring and how that's evolved since the beginning of the pandemic.
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Panel: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Facilitated by Purpose Bureau's Nick Kamper, the EDI&B Panel
7 Nick Kamper, Purpose Bureau 8
Lisa Annese, Diversity Council
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The Panel
10 Mark Nielsen, Talent 11 Rani Nandan, PageGroup 12 Stephanie Zuniga-Maher, Canva 12
Thank you to our Sponsors
100% of attendees surveyed rated Emerge 2022 overall as either Excellent or Very Good.
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Mark Gilham, Vincere
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Major Sponsors
2 The Vincere team 3 The Volcanic team 4 Colin Cuthbert, Ayers Group 5 Alyce Tulich, SEEK HOSPITALITY SPONSOR
COCKTAIL SPONSOR
Thank you to our Attendees
Over 95% of attendees surveyed said they would attend Emerge again in 2023.
100% of attendees surveyed would recommend the Emerge Conference to a colleague.
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Thursday November 17, 2022 Luminare, Melbourne Tickets on sale soon at www.apscoau.org
What’s a contract got to do with it? Determining employment versus independent contracting relationships Earlier this year, the High Court handed down two decisions which stressed the primacy of contractual terms in determining employment versus independent contracting relationships. The High Court held that where parties have comprehensively committed the terms of their relationship to a written contract, it was ‘unnecessary and inappropriate’ to undertake a detailed review of the work practices of the parties. In doing so, the High Court limited (but did not abolish) the application of the well-known ‘multifactorial’ test. Comments made by the High Court when considering 'Odco' style contracting arrangements in one of the cases that we will discuss below casts doubt on whether the popular engagement model can be used without significant risk to labour hire businesses.
Diana Diaz, Special Counsel, Gadens
the High Court found that Mr McCourt, a labourer engaged by a labour hire provider (Construct), was actually an employee. Mr McCourt had signed an Administrative Services Agreement (ASA) with Construct which characterised him as a ‘self-employed contractor’. Mr McCourt was assigned to two construction sites run by clients of Construct, including Hanssen and performed labouring tasks under the supervision and direction of Hanssen’s supervisor. A Labour Hire Agreement was in place between Construct and Hanssen pursuant to which Construct commercialised ‘its right to control the work that Mr McCourt would do and how he would do it’.
William Marshall, Senior Associate, Gadens
Personnel Contracting In Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union & Anor v Personnel Contracting Pty [2022] HCA 1 (Personnel Contracting),
The tripartite arrangement – an independent contractor agreement between Construct and Mr McCourt as a contractor, and a labour hire agreement between Construct as the provider and Hanssen as the client – is known as an ‘Odco’ style arrangement.
Carlyna Yap, Lawyer, Gadens
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The High Court confirmed that where a contract is wholly in writing, the question of whether a worker is an employee or a contractor is to be determined based on the terms of that written contract. In applying this principle, the High Court decided that the terms and conditions under Mr McCourt's ASA, specifically Construct's right of control over Mr McCourt, were determinative in finding that Mr McCourt was an employee of Construct.
The main factors that contributed to this decision were that:
Jamsek
Confirmation of principles in Pruessner
In ZG Operations & Anor (ZG) v Jamsek & Ors [2022] HCA 2 (Jamsek), the High Court found that two truck drivers (Mr Jamsek and Mr Whitby) were independent contractors despite the drivers having minimal time to undertake work for third parties. Mr Jamsek and Mr Whitby were originally employed as truck drivers of a business run by ZG but were later offered to continue as contractors to carry goods if they purchased their trucks. Mr Jamsek and Mr Whitby accepted this proposal, established partnership arrangements with their respective wives, executed contracts for service of delivery of goods, purchased, maintained and paid for the operational costs of the trucks and invoiced ZG for the delivery of goods.
• the partnership nature of the relationship between Jamsek, Whitby and ZG meant that there was no direct relationship for personal services between ZG and either of the wouldbe employees; and • the contracts did not distinguish supply of relevant trucks from the supply of labour, meaning it was not a relationship of employment.
The above principles were applied in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia case of Pruessner v Caelli Constructions Pty Ltd (Caelli) [2022] FedCFamC2G 206 (Pruessner). Mr Pruessner, a labourer, argued that he was an employee given that he worked exclusively for Caelli, worked on average 38 hours a week, wore Caelli uniform and used one of its email addresses. In applying the principles from Personnel Contracting and Jamsek, the Court held that Mr Pruessner was clearly an independent contractor. There was no written contract in place, but the parties' post. In contractual conduct indicated that Mr Pruessner was not an employee. Specifically, Mr Pruessner enjoyed tax advantages from the way he had structured his business – his company charged GST on services, paid director's fees
and made trust distributions to Mr Pruessner and his wife and paid superannuation on behalf of Mr Pruessner. What does this mean for labour hire providers? In Personnel Contracting, the level of control able to be exercised by the labour hire provider over the worker under the underpinning agreement was a determinative factor in finding that the worker was an employee. Labour hire businesses that rely on the Odco model should obtain urgent legal advice to understand their potential exposure (including historical exposure) and to discuss alternative engagement models. Generally speaking however, an analysis of existing arrangements between labour hire providers, workers and host businesses should be undertaken in circumstances where a worker is engaged as an independent contractor. In these circumstances, the agreement between businesses and workers should be cautiously reviewed to ensure that the rights and obligations extending from the agreement and that the underpinning structure reflects the intentions of the arrangement between the parties. Labour hire providers should also carefully consider the corporate structures under which contractors will provide their services, if any. RECRUITMENT & CO | 29
L&D success means business success Tasked with the goal of aligning employee goals and performance with those of the organisation’s, Learning and Development is enjoying its turn in the spotlight. Here’s how to nail it. LinkedIn's Adam Gregory explains. If the findings of LinkedIn’s 6th annual Workplace Learning Report are anything to go by, the value of L&D in the workplace is coming into its own, and it’s a field set for a major revolution. Adam Gregory Senior Director, ANZ Talent & Learning Solutions, LinkedIn says more than 72% of the professionals surveyed for the 2022 data driven report say L&D has become a more strategic function of their organisation, and 74% agree it has become more crossfunctional. The 2022 industry report, designed to deliver data and advice on what matters to L&D professionals today, in jam packed with L&D professionals’ insights on the current challenges, goals, budgets, and positioning within their organisation, all ready for savvy companies to leverage. Employees need to feel cared for, valued, and like their skills are being put to good use Gregory says L&D activity is an ideal way to deliver on these needs and light up company culture. He says learning powers culture, and culture powers engaged
employees who are energized to innovate, delight customers, and beat the competition. Conversely, LinkedIn’s report found employees who feel their skills are not being put to good use are 10 times more likely to be looking for a new job than those who feel that their skills are being put to good use. Glint data found that having opportunities to learn and grow is now the highest ranked factor people say defines an exceptional work environment. The Workplace Learning Report also noted employees who rate their culture highly are 25% more likely to be happy at work and 31% more likely to recommend working at their organization. It’s an approach favoured by big business. Amanda Kowal Kenyon, Chief Employee Experience Officer for Ketchum says they’re focussing on embedding learning and skill building in people’s actual day-to-day experiences to make them a long-term, attractive career home, where staff have many opportunities to move up and around into different teams and projects.
Adam Gregory Senior Director, ANZ Talent & Learning Solutions LinkedIn
Managers matter Last year’s report declared managers the “secret skill-building weapon” – and their importance has only grown — especially for remote and hybrid businesses where employees have fewer serendipitous meetups to build their networks and increase their sense of company culture. LinkedIn’s data revealed the most critical factor in a caring employee experience is each person’s manager – almost half (49%) of L&D professionals surveyed put increased attention on manager training and support this past year. However, only 25% of respondents indicated their organizations are prioritising manager training focused around work-life balance and well-being. “Now more than ever, my manager is equated with my experience in an organization,” says Danny Guillory, vice president and chief diversity officer at Dropbox, which has launched quarterly summits to support managers.
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Organizations need to future proof their teams as change occurs at lightning speed L&D is at the center of this, answering employees’ renewed calls for growth and purpose, and those in the field are grappling with the urgent challenge of upskilling entire workforces. This is transforming the function of L&D into a strategic, businesscritical role that learning leaders must quickly grow into. “Employees expect opportunities to learn and grow without limitations, managers who understand individual working styles and environments, and companies that offer flexibility as a standard of employment, ” says Gogi Anan, Senior People Science Consultant, LinkedIn.
IThis doesn’t have to translate to stressed out L&D staff. As with most sectors, technology is offering up new and innovative ways to help companies streamline activity and support their staff. Stella Lee, PhD Director at Paradox Learning told LinkedIn’s researchers that AI-enabled ed tech products, in combination with other emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT) can support workplace learning. She adds personalized learning content using recommender systems, push content via chatbots, peer-based knowledge sharing on collaborative platforms, and the integration of curated external content (third-party content) with custom internal
in-house content are all options. In an interesting, if not ironic twist, LinkedIn’s data indicates increased workloads has seen L&D learners spent 23% less time learning in 2021, and 35% less time learning compared to their HR colleagues. Lori Niles-Hofmann, Senior EdTech Transformation at NilesNolen suggests the solution lies in thinking strategically, recommending L&D professionals ensure their learning is aligned with business skills. “Rather than looking at hours of learning and course completion rates, instead focus on identifying what skills are lacking in your organization. With that alignment and clarity, L&D can create a skillbuilding program that’s in lock-step with your business strategy,” she says.
L&D leaders agree value’s skyrocketed 74% agree that L&D has become more cross-functional. 87% had some to a great deal of involvement in helping their organization adapt to change. 72% agree that L&D has become a more strategic function at their organization. 62% agree that L&D is focused on rebuilding or reshaping their organization in 2022.
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In an interesting, if not ironic twist, LinkedIn’s data indicates increased workloads has seen L&D learners spent 23% less time learning in 2021, and 35% less time learning compared to their HR colleagues. Lori Niles-Hofmann, Senior EdTech Transformation at NilesNolen suggests the solution lies in thinking strategically, recommending L&D professionals ensure their learning is aligned with business skills. “Rather than looking at hours of learning and course completion rates, instead focus on identifying what skills are lacking in your organization. With that alignment and clarity, L&D can create a skillbuilding program that’s in lockstep with your business strategy,” she says.
Recreating the L&D machine requires collaboration Creating meaningful, successful L&D activity within companies requires a shift in thinking from ‘vertical silo’s’ to working horizontally across its organization – or in layman’s terms, working closely with HR counterparts, executive leadership, and department heads to craft learning strategy. “In a unique moment in time, when organizations can rethink their approach to many aspects of HR, the collaboration between L&D and people analytics is resulting in more effective, fact-based, and impactful learning experiences,” says Nigel Dias, Managing Director at 3n Strategy.
Jobs and promotions are growing 15% more promotions of L&D professionals this year, compared to their HR counterparts. 94% increase in demands for L&D specialists in July – September 2021 compared with April – June 2021
While LinkedIn’s data show many L&D professionals have gotten more cross-functional this year, there is room to grow in terms of the HR partners they’re working with. Talent acquisition is a big area of opportunity this coming year, as skills-based hiring becomes more important, and people analytics could become a strong partner to illuminate the business impact of skill-building programs. Neither last nor least, when it comes to transforming L&D activity, don’t forget to engage the employees themselves – after all, the best source for understanding what employees want and need is employees themselves. Unfortunately, while the report noted more businesses kept an active ear on employee sentiment by deploying more frequent surveys and L&D pros increasingly turned to employee engagement surveys to gauge the impact of their programs in the past year, there is still progress to be made. This year’s Workplace Learning Report survey revealed a mere 20% of learners agree their ‘organisation’s leadership values learning more now than ever before’. In short - it’s time to work smarter – not just harder.
Get in touch to schedule a free demo and discuss how LinkedIn Learning can help you navigate transformation while employees learn relevant skills, achieve goals and make a greater impact.
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Starting the new financial year with compliance in mind As we begin a new financial year, it presents an opportunity to stop, review, and update processes and procedures to ensure your compliance is robust and audit-ready, particularly as it relates to your contractors. WorkPro's Tania Evans has compiled a few key elements to kick start a review.
1. Validating and monitoring work rights It is a legal requirement for you to check the work rights of every worker, regardless of the length of their working contract. For Australian citizens, the only acceptable document evidence is a birth certificate, Australian passport, Australian citizenship certificate or an Immi card. For non-Australian citizens, you need to securely capture a copy of their current passport, and electronically check the Australian Department of Home Affairs visa entitlement database to confirm their work rights and any conditions, and only engage the worker in line with those conditions. It is still a common misconception that work visas only need to be checked once. It is important to regularly monitor, and recheck non-Australian citizens work rights as conditions can change dynamically.
Ensure you have a robust process in place to systematically monitor work rights and have visibility of compliance gaps. The Department of Home Affairs can impose significant penalties for engaging illegal workers including single fines for each person in breach of visa conditions, and a jail sentence. 2. Fair Work Statement Every 30th June, the Fair Work Commission publish an updated version of the Fair Work Statement. The Statement forms part of the National Employment Standards (NES). The NES apply to all employees covered by the national workplace relations system, regardless of any award, agreement, or contract. The Statement must be delivered to every employee as soon as practical after they commence work. You need to retain evidence of the date and time the Statement was provided.
Tania Evans, Founder WorkPro 3. Casual Employment Information Statement Along with the Fair Work Statement, every casual employee needs to be provided with the Casual Employment Information Statement. Introduced in March 2021, the CEIS provides new casual employees with information about their conditions of employment. You can read an overview of the Statement here. 4. Covid-19 Vaccination Covid-19 Vaccination Mandates have been in place for some time now, with a wide range of industries having specific mandates to adhere to. It is crucial that you verify your workforce’s vaccination status (or exemption) and ensure you are audit ready. With additional vaccine boosters being rolled out, it’s important to stay diligent and up to date with the latest information and health advice.
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5. Onboarding and inducting your new worker Most companies will have some form of induction process. Delivered manually or leveraging technology to streamline and simplify the process, it includes issuing mandatory documentation, sign off on contracts, and delivery of company policies and procedures. Safety and compliance learning is also paramount and should be closely aligned to the person’s role or the industry they are working, aimed at reducing injury and keeping people safe.
Key learning should also include bullying, discrimination, and harassment, and potentially privacy and cyber security information. If you have a hybrid working arrangement, ensure that the deliver working from home or ‘working safely from anywhere’ information, along with a safety checklist to mitigate risk for yourself and your worker.
that helps all parties (the host, the worker, and the on-hiring Agency) understand their roles, responsibilities, and process in this triage relationship. Remember that being compliant includes strong record keeping, that show evidence of the process followed, and a trace of information that is date and time-stamped.
For contractors being placed at a host site, there is a further level of governance that needs to be applied and that is information and instruction
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How to get your business under control when you’re always busy Hands up anyone that thinks they have too much spare time? The market is hot right now. How do you make sure you make the most of the good times? Do you have a nagging feeling that things might be getting out of control? Let’s stop and think for a minute. Maybe make a list? People make lists because we can’t keep everything in our heads. In 1956 George A. Miller published “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information”. This has occasionally been referred to as Miller’s law. Whole forests have been cut down to churn out self-help books on how to best deal with this problem. Two of the best are “Getting things Done” by David Allen and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. If you struggle to stay on top of everything in your business, the best thing to do is to get the really big issues out of your head and onto a piece of paper. Then work out what steps you might take for each one.
The thing to be careful of, based on our humble experience, is to not reinvent the wheel each time you come across a problem. There are very few problems in the world that have not been faced by someone, somewhere else. Most people would feel uncomfortable describing themselves as wise, but wise people are fundamentally just people that have faced a problem in the past, found a way through and learned more from it each time. Hopefully they shared that wisdom with the rest of us. You just need talk to a good tradie to really see this in action. Of course, it does not mean anyone is wise about all things, but we are all specialists in our own way.
Thomas Taylor, Director, Middle Office
Us oldies at Middle Office feel we have gathered most of our wisdom from being able to see inside lots of different businesses, from the very good to the not-sogood, and we get a kick out of our clients getting the benefit of those years. So, if you are stuck wondering what to do, make sure you take some time out from the crazy busy hours and ask a few battlehardened people some questions. They usually love reminiscing now that they have more time on their hands. One of the ways we help agencies is by producing a diagnostic report. It’s a deep dive, from a financial perspective, at the things in their business that can have the biggest impact on shareholder valuation.
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Electric vehicles: good for the environment, great for the hip pocket With the Australian Labor Party having secured a majority victory in the federal election, many in the community will be eagerly awaiting their first round of legislative changes.
One of their most attractive election policies from a tax perspective is the proposed Electric Car Discount. The policy proposes an exemption from import tariffs, which currently add 5% to the cost of some imported electric cars. By far the most exciting concession (from a tax perspective) is an exemption for Fringe Benefits Tax if the vehicle is below the luxury car tax threshold for fuel efficient vehicles ($84,916 for the 2022-2023 Financial Year). With a proposed start date of 1 July 2022, this FBT exemption will greatly increase the attractiveness of salary packaging Electric Vehicles via a Novated Lease arrangement. For an IT Professional/ Contractor on an hourly rate of $130.00, an annual benefit of up to $12,522 can be achieved by salary
Rebecca Roberts, Director, Achieve Corp
packaging an electric vehicle with an $80,000 value, compared with a potential benefit of only $5,765 when packaging a petrol/diesel vehicle of the same value. The policy is to be trialed for an initial three-year period, so in light of the current shortage of available vehicles, it is a good idea to order your vehicle sooner rather than later to ensure you can make the most of the available savings. This is an exciting development and a significant tax advantage for what is essentially a private expense. It levels the playing field for salary packaging an electric vehicle, proving to be a double win – good for the environment, great for the hip pocket.
Daniel Fothergill, Managing Director, Achieve Corp
Achieve Corp is a premier provider of payroll services with over 20 years’ experience. As a Registered Tax Agent, CPA Public Practice and longstanding APSCo Affiliate Partner, Achieve Corp are uniquely positioned to assist you with your salary packaging and payroll options, for both employers and employees.
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Using evidence in bid responses How do you earn those elusive last few marks on a tender to give you the edge over the other tenderers? I believe that the answer is not to spend hours on making your submission look pretty, but to spend those hours gathering specific evidence to support your response. And there are four quick ways to do this, says Red Bid Director, Carolyn Rogers.
Facts and Figures Try not to use general claims such as, “we have one of the highest placement rates in the financial services sector in NSW”. Say instead, “we have placed 126 candidates into 21 financial service clients in NSW in the last 6 months." Likewise saying,“62% of our successful candidates are generated via our existing networks,” is far more compelling than “most candidates are sourced via our networks." Reinforcement When responding to a question about commitment to sustainability – anyone can put together a response that says, “we work with an environmental partner or we use reusable mugs,” but winning bids support these statements with photos of the mugs or attach emails/letters from the environmental partners as evidence of these practices in action.
Internal business process improvements Take time to include in your response solid evidence of improved internal business processes. Examples of these can be: Increased revenue or profitability Decrease in customer complaints Results of employee engagement surveys year-on-year Training and development Back all of these up with numbers, charts or tables demonstrating the business improvements.
“Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule." Charles Dickens
Carolyn Rogers, Director, Red Bid
Case Studies These need to be specific, relevant, easy to read and jargon free. A good case study will tell a story rather than include a bullet pointed list of actions. Make sure you include relevant data and specific numbers – it's far better to say, “we advertised on SEEK, LinkedIn and our website within 2 hours of receipt of the role and received 99 applications in 3 business days,” than it is to say, “we advertised the role." Where possible ensure the case studies are less than 12 months old and contain details of a referee so that the claims made can be independently checked. One final hint Ty not to populate your response with old testimonials – a testimonial only has true resonance if it is relatively recent, can be checked by the bid evaluator and is relevant to the bid itself. RECRUITMENT & CO | 37
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