Profitable Painters Program Launch Limited Introductory Offer Never To Be Repeated ...
Habits for a Great Year Here’s a guide on how to create an awesome 2019!
Why Clients Don’t Pay The cause of nonpayment lies with you.
Employee Entitlements Five things you should put to your attention
www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
眀眀眀⸀愀甀猀猀椀攀瀀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀渀攀琀眀漀爀欀⸀挀漀洀⸀愀甀
CONTRIBUTORS • Angela Smith • Anthony Igra • David Tuffley • James Thompson • Jim Baker • Leo Babauta • Monroe Porter • Robert Bauman • Sandra Price • Zahidul Alam
EDITOR Nigel Gorman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Caroline Miall GRAPHIC DESIGNER
From the Editor Hey Everyone,
Welcome to 2019, I hope that you had a wonderful break over the Christmas period. It has been an amazing two months for Aussie Painters Network since the last Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine. Firstly we have joined forces with the Master Painters Association of Queensland (RTO30048) to supply training services. We believe this is a great step forward for the painting industry as a whole. Also what better than to have “Painters Trained by Painters” NOT by builders. With us joining forces it gives the best possible outcomes for all of industry. With MPA’s Training facility and the Painters Training Wheels we are able to provide the most comprehensive painters training available anywhere throughout Qld. Secondly, we have completed what we believe to be the most comprehensive training and assistance program for painting business owners. The Profitable Painters Program has take 12 months to complete and is launching this week with a Special Preview for anyone that wants to see what it is all about. You will be able to access some of the areas with in the program with all the benefits being announced throughout the next month with the full launch on the 4th March 2019. Finally, Aussie Painters Network has always been about the Painters and the Painting Industry. We are of the belief that as a united industry we will be able to have our voice heard and have a say on what is needed at all levels of our trade.
'Till next year, Happy Painting!!
J. Anne Delgado Nigel Gorman
nigel@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
07 3555 8010
Advertise with us...
1800 355 344 07 3555 8010 info@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
www.aussiepaintingcontractor.com
Contents 6 This Simple Equation Shows EXACTLY Why The Little Things Count… Online Marketing Retargeting for Tradies
9
Get your brand or message back in front of people
How to train the body’s own cells to combat antibiotic resistance The Simple Guide to Creating Habits for a GREAT YEAR
12
16
4 WAYS VIDEO CAN HELP Your Business Marketing and Team Work PAINTING AND DECORATING CPC30611 CERTIFICATE III REVIEW A Guide to Profiling your Customers
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Why Clients Don’t Pay
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Employee Entitlements WHAT SHOULD THEY GET?
25
By knowing your customers you’ll be able to tailor your content, your marketing strategy and your product
VERY RISKY BUSINESS: 28 The pros and cons of insurance companies
CONSTRUCTION Management Sins Employees: Casuals or Permanent? Or both?
32 35 38 41
Industry Idiots
44
Important Contacts
45
Opinions and viewpoints expressed in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher or any Aussie Painters Network’s staff or related parties. The publisher, Aussie Painters Network and Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine personnel are not liable for any mistake, misprint or omission. Information contained in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine is intended to inform and illustrate and should not be taken as financial, legal or accounting advice. You should seek professional advice before making business related decisions. We are not liable for any losses you may incur directly or indirectly as a result of reading Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine. Reproduction of any material or contents of the magazine without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
This Simple Equation Shows EXACTLY
Why The Little Things Count… It was a conversation with one of our employees yesterday (trust me, this is relevant!), which sparked me to write this article… This employee is currently studying at uni and it can take her as long as 1.5 hours to get from work to class of an afternoon. However, in typical Sydney traffic style, a good run can get her there up to an hour early. Instead of sitting on her phone scrolling Facebook like most, she’ll take study notes with her to read – just in case. In doing so, she’s calculated that she is often…
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3 hours ahead in study each week, which equates to 36 hours ahead over a semester.
It’s all about maximizing the seconds in your day… everyday.
The best bit is… these efforts are so small and incremental, the hours add up without her even realising.
You can do this in two ways:
So, what does this mean for you as a painting business owner?
1) Through incidental extra time (like in the situation above)
This story shows that incremental efforts have a HUGE long-term impact on progress and efficiency.
2) Through dedicated time
Incidental Extra Time The spare time in your day that incidentally becomes available is the time that comes about whilst you are doing mindless activities or which eventuates when your day pans out in a way which gives you a “spare” moment (which is probably that rare moment when you aren’t with a customer or employee). The KEY to maximizing these hours is to be prepared… Just like our employee comes prepared with her study notes, you need to prepare yourself with the tools and resources to make use of those times. Perhaps you may choose to… Listen to podcasts while you are driving to a job or working at a jobsite OR Utilize those 5 to 10 minutes that you arrive early at your next job constructively on select apps on your mobile or tablet device. Maybe that’s…
- Reconciling your accounts on your cloud accounting app, or - Reading up on some of our trade business tips on the Lifestyle Tradie App (available on App Store HERE and on Google Play HERE).
Dedicated Time Now you’ve seen the power in taking advantage of small opportunities throughout your day, you may even decide to allocate small periods each day for business activities. These times are particularly good for business growth activities, such as marketing and business planning activities, which you usually wouldn’t find the time for in your day-to-day routine. In an ideal world (and this may not be best for you right now)… you’d want to dedicate 96 days a year to business growth activities.
96 days – public holidays = 1x Marketing day per week 1x Administrative / financial day per week
However, putting aside whole days might not fit your current business needs. But, would you consider putting aside 1 hour each day? Say between 7am-8am you solely focus on your marketing. This might seem insignificant, yet over a week this 1 hour becomes 5 hours and over the year, this 5 hours becomes 260 hours! This is some serious food for though… If you want to learn more about how best to leverage your time and money as a business owner, and get more freedom from your painting business… come to our first Next Level Tradie events for 2019 and start your year off with kicking goals!
Angela Smith
Co-founder – Lifestyle Tradie
“Helping Trade Business Owners Fast-Track Financial & Lifestyle Success”
CLICK HERE for details
GRAB YOUR FREE Aussie Painters ticket!
2019 January Issue | 7
倀甀戀氀椀挀 氀椀愀戀椀氀椀琀礀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀爀漀洀 樀甀猀琀 ␀㐀 㜀 ⴀ 䤀渀挀氀甀搀攀猀 挀漀瘀攀爀 昀漀爀 猀瀀爀愀礀椀渀最 ⴀ 唀渀爀攀猀琀爀椀挀琀攀搀 栀攀椀最栀琀猀 漀瀀琀椀漀渀⨀ ⴀ 䌀漀瘀攀爀 昀爀漀洀 ␀㔀洀 琀漀 ␀㈀ 洀 ⴀ 䴀漀渀琀栀氀礀 瀀愀礀洀攀渀琀 漀瀀琀椀漀渀猀 ⴀ 䔀愀猀礀 漀渀氀椀渀攀 愀瀀瀀氀椀挀愀琀椀漀渀
倀爀攀洀椀甀洀 漀昀 ␀㐀 㜀 椀猀 戀愀猀攀搀 漀渀 ␀㔀Ⰰ Ⰰ 瀀甀戀氀椀挀 氀椀愀戀椀氀椀琀礀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 瀀漀氀椀挀礀 瀀愀椀搀 愀渀渀甀愀氀氀礀 昀漀爀 愀 瀀愀椀渀琀椀渀最 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 椀渀 儀䰀䐀 眀椀琀栀 漀渀攀 洀愀渀甀愀氀 眀漀爀欀攀爀⸀ ⨀ 䄀 㔀洀 栀攀椀最栀琀 氀椀洀椀琀 愀瀀瀀氀椀攀猀Ⰰ 戀甀琀 挀愀渀 戀攀 爀攀洀漀瘀攀搀 昀漀爀 愀渀 愀搀搀椀琀椀漀渀愀氀 瀀爀攀洀椀甀洀⸀
吀爀愀搀攀猀洀愀渀 䤀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 匀攀爀瘀椀挀攀猀 倀琀礀 䰀琀搀 琀⼀愀猀 吀爀愀搀攀 刀椀猀欀 ⠀䌀䄀刀 㐀㈀㈀㠀㐀㜀⤀ 椀猀 愀 䌀漀爀瀀漀爀愀琀攀 䄀甀琀栀漀爀椀猀攀搀 刀攀瀀爀攀猀攀渀琀愀琀椀瘀攀 漀昀 圀攀猀琀挀漀甀爀琀 䜀攀渀攀爀愀氀 䤀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 䈀爀漀欀攀爀猀 倀琀礀 䰀琀搀Ⰰ 䄀甀猀琀爀愀氀椀愀渀 䘀椀渀愀渀挀椀愀氀 匀攀爀瘀椀挀攀猀 䰀椀挀攀渀挀攀 一漀 ㈀㌀㠀㐀㐀㜀⸀ 䄀䈀一 㠀 㤀 㐀 㜀㜀㈀⸀
Online Marketing Retargeting for Tradies You might not be familiar with the term ‘retargeting’, but you probably have experienced it. Say you were researching cordless drills online, then next time you visit Facebook or Instagram, suddenly you’re seeing posts from the same stores. It happens all the time right? It’s not someone from Facebook spying on you; it’s something known as retargeting, and it just might work for your trade business too…
What is Retargeting? Retargeting is a form of online marketing that gets your brand or message back in front of people who have already visited your website.
sion, or even get in touch with you on the first website visit, so you want to get back in front of them before they forget you. Picture this… You’re an electrician, and someone managed to find your website when they were considering having their home rewired. Your website was one of ten electrician sites they looked at that day. Over the coming days the idea becomes less of a priority and they move on to other things. Then suddenly they see your logo whilst scrolling through Facebook. It might not prompt them into action, but it brings back thoughts of rewiring, and they’re associating that with your brand.
So it’s not targeting people who’ve never heard of you, it’s retargeting people who have heard of you.
The same thing might happen a few times over the coming days and weeks until they decide to take the next step and make some enquiries.
The idea behind it is that very few people will make a purchase deci-
If you’re the only electrical business that was clever enough to use
retargeting, who do you think that client will get in touch with first? You of course!
How Does it Work? Retargeting works by placing a small piece of code on your website which collects a ‘cookie’ from the website visitor. That cookie is then used by advertising providers, such as Facebook and Google, to show your ads to those same visitors. Placing a snippet of code on your website might sound very nerdy and daunting, but it’s actually very easy if your website uses a popular platform such as WordPress.
How Much Does It Cost? The costs of any form of online advertising (especially Google and Facebook) will vary hugely depending on the level of competition from similar advertisers.
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Sadly for us at Trade Risk, insurance is extremely competitive when it comes to online marketing so our costs are very high. But for an electrical or carpentry business, there is not that same level of online competition, so the cost will generally be far lower. Either way, retargeting will generally be far less expensive than other forms of online marketing. Setup costs will depend on your ability to DIY. If you can set it up yourself (which is entirely possible) the only setup cost will be your own time.
Here are some more links to help you get started: Google: Google Ads (official page) Hubspot: How to Use Google AdWords: A Simple Setup Tutorial Facebook (includes Instagram): Facebook Business (official page) Facebook Business – Pixel Hubspot: Simple Step-by-Step Instructions for Setting Up a Facebook Ad Campaign
If your time is better spent ‘on the tools’ then you might be better to pay someone to set it up for you. Given our experience in this area, it might be something Trade Risk offers in the future…
Once you have an account setup, you need to place the relevant code on your website to start tracking your visitors. There are separate pieces of code for both Google and Facebook, and the Facebook code also works for Instagram.
Ongoing costs will depend on how frequently you wish to display your ads, and which networks you choose to advertise on.
You then set your daily budget, go through a few targeting options and let your campaign fly!
The costs are fairly low regardless, and a budget of just $50 a month will see your ads getting plenty of love. The more you spend, the more your ads will be seen.
Once the campaign is up and running it’s important to track how it’s going. For a trade business you might want to track how many people are clicking on your contact page
How Do I Get Started?
This will give you a good idea of whether or not your returning visitors are actually taking some action and making the whole thing worthwhile.
First up you need to sign up for an advertising account. The two main options are Google and Facebook. Retargeting with Google runs through the Google Ads system. We recently put together a guide on Google Ads for Tradies which is worth checking out.
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Whether or not it will be worthwhile for a trade business is unknown to us, but given the even lower costs, we’d think it’s definitely worth a punt. And when you think through the example we gave for the electrician, and think how a similar scenario would play out for almost any other trade business, we’d be surprised if it didn’t work.
Hang On, What About Remarketing? Remarketing and retargeting are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are different. Retargeting is what we’ve described above, which generally utilises an ad network (such as Google or Facebook) to show ads to people who have already visited your website. Remarketing on the other hand typically involves email marketing. For example a user has left their email address when requesting a quote or more information, and you use a system to email those users at a later date. If you can combine retargeting with remarketing, you’ll give your trade business an even better chance of scoring new and repeat clients!
Is It Worthwhile? For our insurance business the answer is not a definite yes, but certainly a probable yes. And the cost is low enough that it’s worth the punt.
www.traderisk.com.au 1800 808 800
2019 January Issue | 11
How to train the body’s own cells to combat antibiotic resistance Drug-resistant superbugs have threatened human health for decades. The situation is getting worse because of the shortage of new antibiotics. But what if we changed the way we aim to treat them, and trained our cells to kill these invaders instead of relying on antibiotics to do the dirty work? This new strategy, called host-targeted defense, could help to solve antibiotic resistance problem. Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern for global health. A recent report commissioned by the British government shows that every year globally around 700,000 people died due to infections caused by drugresistant bacteria. The report also warned that, without action, the death toll could rise to 10 million globally and cost US$80 trillion to the global economy. Drug resistance is a serious problem in the United States too. More than
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23,000 people die every year due to multidrug-resistant pathogens and cost the country around $55 billion per year.The main culprits threatening the U.S. are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), carbapenem-resistant Entero bacteriaceae (CRE) and Clostridium difficile.
The CDC estimates that antibioticresistant pathogens cause more than 23,000 deaths annually in the United States. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC webpage
The shortage of new antibacterial drugs in development to tackle the growing threat is a disturbing trend.
A pathogen that is resistant to a drug reserved to treat infections when all others have failed is a particular concern. This is the case with carbapenem-resistant pathogen. The decline in antibacterial drugs coupled with emergence of drugresistant pathogens demands alternative approaches. In Malay Haldar’s lab, along with other projects, my colleagues and I are studying how factors in an animal host play a role in response to infections. To test the approach, we are doing this work using a mouse model of infections. Our aim is to find novel traits or factors of the host that can be targeted to boost an individual’s immune response high enough to kill the offending microbes. The host factor we are investigating is called Spi-C, a gene found in every cell of the human body.
Targeting host factors My interest in host factors arose during my graduate studies. While working on my Ph.D. research project, I learned that host factors, a variety of traits intrinsic to humans, play a significant role in bacterial infections. This inspired me to investigate how the host’s immune system fights bacteria. New insights into the host’s defense against pathogens have led researchers to explore a new strategy called host-directed therapy (HDT), a relatively recent idea that has only been around for about a decade.
The goal of HDT is to enhance and amplify the host’s immune response to kill pathogens, rather than relying exclusively on antibacterial drugs. By targeting host factors as well as delivering antibiotic treatment, HDTs deliver a double whammy. The body naturally responds to infections with inflammation, a process in which specific populations of immune cells attack and kill the invading bacteria by either eating them or zapping them with protein weapons. However, uncontrolled inflammation triggers the production of proteins that can cause multiorgan failure and can even kill the host. Therefore, controlling inflammation is crucial to combat pathogens as well as to protect the body from hyperinflammation. On the left photo : A patient who tested positive for extreme drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) awaits treatment at a rural hospital in South Africa’s impoverished KwaZulu Natal province. The new strain of the disease has killed many people, prompting concern from the World Health Organization, which fears XDR-TB could become a major killer. REUTERS\Mike Hutchings
HDTs include a suite of treatments that boost the host response to pathogens and also protect the host from exaggerated immune response. HDTs include cellular therapy, in which a specific population of bone marrow cells are injected into the host body to prevent excessive immune response and tissue injury. Another HDT involves commonly used drugs for noninfectious diseases. Statins and ibuprofen, for example, calm the host response to infections. Biologics, the complex molecule drugs produced by recombinant DNA technology, do this too by neutralizing small-sized proteins and reducing tissue damage. Nutritional products, such as vitamin D3, have also been shown to cause a host’s immune cells to release antibacterial substances that enhance pathogen killing. HDTs in conjunction to antibacterial drugs show great promise in treating various multidrug-resistant pathogens, notably against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen which causes tuberculosis, one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide.
2019 January Issue | 13
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Personalizing treatments for infections In the last decade, researchers have made much progress in host factor research, leading to new therapeutic strategies. One of them is personalized medicine, in which a genomic blueprint can determine an individual’s unique susceptibilities to diseases and choose appropriate therapies. This concept is applied in noninfectious diseases like cancer. However, the application of the concept in infectious disease is very recent. Nonetheless, personalized medicine leads us to speculate why some individuals are more prone to infections than others. My colleagues and I believe that such differences may be caused by subtle differences in the DNA of the host factor genes. By connecting these differences, called polymorphisms, to the level of individuals’ vulnerability to infections, we hope that our research will contribute to the precision medicine of bacterial infections.
Our quest for a novel host factor My colleagues in the Haldar lab and I are exploring the role of Spi-C in bacterial infection. Spi-C is essential for the development of a specific type of population of cells in the spleen that regulate the iron storage in the body. Iron is essential for transporting oxygen in red blood cells. But, during infections, bacteria also require iron. They need it for growth, and they compete with the host to get it. Hence, if we could alter the activity of the Spi-C gene, we might be able to deprive bacteria of this vital nutrient and thus stop the infections without harming the host. In a recent paper, we summarized the effect of iron in host cells and its interactions with host factors in the presence or absence of infections. In mice, we tested the role of host factor, Spi-C, as a way to defend the host. In this study we injected a chemical that is a component of the bacteria into the mice. We wanted to trigger changes that occur in the animal during a real bacterial infection.
Our preliminary results showed that the host factor is active in various organs of the mice treated with the chemical. We believe this activation plays a role in host-defense. And, indeed, we found that losing Spi-C activity increased the release of small-sized proteins that facilitate the host defense against pathogens compared to the cells that have normal Spi-C activity. We believe this change in small-sized proteins might protect the host from hyperinflammation in response to infection. We believe that shifting of our thinking from pathogen-targeted therapy to host-directed therapy ushers in a new avenue of precision medicine, which could help to end the drug resistance crisis. ----------------------------------------------
Zahidul Alam
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania https://theconversation.com/how-to-trainthe-bodys-own-cells-to-combat-antibioticresistance-106052
2019 January Issue | 15
The Simple Guide to Creating
HABITS FOR A GREAT YEAR It’s a new year, and many of us are looking to make positive changes in our lives. The best way to do that is not by making resolutions, but by creating habits that will stick for the long term. If you want to run a marathon, form the habit of running. If you want to write a novel, form the writing habit. If you want to be more mindful, form the habit of meditation. Of course, that’s easier said than done — just form new habits, no problem! So in this guide, I’m going to lay out the key steps to forming the habits that will change your life. If you’d like help forming these habits, I invite you to join me and more than a thousand others
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changing one habit at a time in my Sea Change Program.
Steps to Creating a Habit Pick a positive habit. I recommend you find new, positive habits to form, rather than starting with quitting a bad habit. If you want to quit eating junk food … focus instead on creating the habit of eating more vegetables. Good positive habits to start with: meditation, reading, writing, exercise, eating vegetables, journaling, flossing. One habit at a time. We all have a list of a dozen habits we’d like to change — and all right now! But in my experience, the more habits you do at once, the less likely your chances of success. Even one habit at a time takes focus and energy!
Trust me on this: doing one habit at a time is the best strategy, by far, for any but the best habit masters. Small steps are successful. People underestimate the importance of this, but along with one habit at a time, it’s probably the most important thing you can do to ensure success. Start really small. Meditate for 2 minutes a day the first week (increase by 2-3 minutes a week only if you’re consistent the previous week). Start running for 5-10 minutes a day, not 30 minutes. Eat a small serving of vegetables for one meal, don’t try to change your entire diet at once. Start as small as you can, and increase only gradually as long as you stay consistent. Small steps allow your mind to adjust gradually, and is the best method by far.
Set up reminders. The thing that trips people up in the beginning is remembering to do the habit. Don’t let yourself forget! Set up visual reminders around where you want to remember (ex: in the kitchen, for the veggies habit, or a note on your bathroom mirror for flossing), along with digital reminders on your phone and calendar.
ning, don’t think of it as torture, but as a way to enjoy the outdoors, to feel your body moving, to feel alive. Bring mindfulness to each moment of doing the habit, and find gratitude and joy as you do it. The habit will become the reward, and you’ll look forward to this nice oasis of mindfulness.
Set up accountability. How will you hold yourself to this habit change when you feel like quitting? Accountability. Join a community or small team to hold yourself accountable — I highly suggest you join my Sea Change Program for this accountability.
Try to be as consistent as possible. The more consistent you are, the better. Resist putting off the habit, and make it your policy to just get started when you have said you’ll do it, rather than indulging in the old pattern of, “I’ll do it later.” That’s an old habit that you want to retrain by doing it immediately.
Find reward in the doing. You won’t stick to any change for long if you really hate doing it. Instead, find some pleasure in the doing of the habit. For example, if you go run-
Review & adjust regularly. I like to review how I did with my habits at the end of each day, before I sleep. It helps me get better and better at habits. But at the minimum, review
once a week (and do a check-in with your accountability team) and adjust as needed. For example, if you forgot to do the habit, adjust by creating new reminders. If you aren’t consistent, maybe set up a challenge with your team so that you pay them $10 each day you miss (for example). Adjusting each week means you’ll get better and better at doing this habit. If you fall down, keep coming back. Again, if you’d like some support in forming these habits, I invite you to join me and more than a thousand others changing one habit at a time in my Sea Change Program.
Leo Babauta
a successful ‘simplicity’ blogger and author from California, the creator of top 25 Blog,
ZEN HABITS
吀栀攀 瀀漀爀琀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 椀渀攀砀瀀攀渀猀椀瘀攀 洀攀琀栀漀搀 琀漀 瀀爀攀瘀攀渀琀 瀀愀椀渀琀 眀愀猀琀攀ⴀ眀愀琀攀爀 瀀漀氀氀甀琀椀渀最 琀栀攀 攀渀瘀椀爀漀渀洀攀渀琀⸀
2019 January Issue | 17
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4 WAYS VIDEO CAN HELP
Your Business Marketing and Team Work Video would have to one of the best tools that the smart phone revolution has given small business owners in the last decade. It’s a free tool to improve your business marketing and communications. The video platform YouTube has easily become one of the preferred places that people go to because it makes it easy for them to learn anything these days. Not only that, more than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices.
websites, in news articles, on Blogs and YouTube, Facebook Live, the list goes on… it’s a similar phenomenon. While it’s not the only promotional tool in the kit, video has fast become one of the most effective engagement tools to convey information in business to staff and clients alike. According to WordStream 87% of online marketers use video content. Make Induction Videos for Staff
Though the outcries of ‘video killed the radio star’ in the early eighties were a bit premature when MTV was launched, it heralded a time when every band or artist had to have a music video as part of their record promotion war chest.
I can understand that most people prefer the ‘organic way’ of inducting a new colleague or staff member, which is where you actively teach them over time how things work in your company. However, while this has a high personal touch, it is also a very time consuming way to undertake inductions.
It was similar to what’s happening with the use of video in business on
Video can be highly effective to communicate your brand, busi-
ness policies and procedures to your existing and new staff. It may not sound as sexy as a music video, but knowing how to work together and follow the established procedures is essential for any business success. Many work processes and procedures would really lend themselves to using video as a communication tool to explain them to your staff. We find that because resources are scarce in smaller businesses, many of the policies and procedures have been written quickly and may make sense to someone educated in the procedure but make no sense to someone new in the business. It is not until the author of the policy leaves the business and a new recruit arrives that the effectiveness of the policy can be tested.
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For more complex policies and or procedures we suggest making a video. So get out your smart phone and start using video to make your business processes understood. Upload the video to YouTube or Vimeo and then link to it from your policies and procedures manual. Create a Business Video Library Most business owners that we talk to have very few policies and procedures in place to support their business operations. You can literally come up with loads of individual procedures that staff need to follow in order to do things right for the company. Create a video library that your staff can access on the computer or on their own mobile devices that covers many aspects of your policies and procedures. When you build a high performance culture in your business you’ll always want to find new and better ways to put systems in place that your staff can easily follow. Your operational policies and procedures manual is easily one of the biggest systems a business can have. That’s why it should be in a central place, easily accessible, preferably online and be a combination of written policies and visual pieces of instructions, through images or video.
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Document the Results of Your Work I know that quite a few builders and tradies have started to use their mobile technology quite extensively in their business. For example, when you’ve finished a job use your mobile phone to take pictures of the finished job and use it later on for future reference. Then you can also use it in marketing or for new staff to get a sense of the type of work and the quality that they’re aiming for. The old saying ‘A picture speaks a thousand words’ is true to this day. And I would add, ‘A video is like a whole book that tells the story’. Record Client Success Stories on Your Smart Phone One of the best uses of video I find is when you use it to record client success stories. They are the real deal when it comes to proving to others how valuable your service or product is to your customers.
The best time to approach your client to give you a video testimonial is right after you’ve finished the work for them. When you’ve excelled yourself and your customer has that heavenly smile on their face at what you’ve done for them and their eyes sparkle. Short video testimonials can be so powerful for your marketing, you’d kick yourself, if you didn’t make use of this free tool that comes with your smart phone. Make sure you do some role playing first with the family or friends, to get a feel for the best way to record and extract the file, so you can upload it to your website or video file server program. Think about how you would get the ball rolling, ie what question you would ask the client to prompt them to give you an answer, which you then record on video. Remember to ask for permission from your customer to use the video in your online business marketing. Copyright © 2019 Robert Bauman.
2019 January Issue | 21
䘀刀䔀䔀 匀吀䄀䘀䘀 匀䄀䘀䔀吀夀 䌀伀唀刀匀䔀
䤀一吀刀伀䐀唀䌀吀䤀伀一
䐀唀吀夀 伀䘀 䌀䄀刀䔀 刀䔀儀唀䤀刀䔀䐀 吀刀䄀䤀一䤀一䜀 䄀一䐀 䰀䤀䌀䔀一匀䤀一䜀 䤀䐀䔀一吀䤀䘀夀 䠀䄀娀䄀刀䐀匀
匀䄀䘀䔀吀夀 倀刀䤀一䌀䤀倀䰀䔀匀
匀圀䴀匀 ☀ 䨀匀䄀 倀唀吀吀䤀一䜀 伀唀吀 䄀 䘀䤀刀䔀 倀唀 䴀䄀一唀䄀䰀 䠀䄀一䐀䰀䤀一䜀 匀䤀吀䔀 匀䤀䜀一䄀䜀䔀 䄀一䐀 䈀䄀刀刀䤀䌀䄀䐀䔀匀 䄀䐀䠀䔀刀䔀 吀伀 伀䠀☀匀 䘀伀刀 匀倀刀䄀夀 倀䄀䤀一吀䤀一䜀
䔀䰀䔀䌀吀刀䤀䌀䄀䰀 匀䄀䘀䔀吀夀
䔀䰀䔀䌀吀刀䤀䌀䄀䰀 匀䄀䘀䔀吀夀 䤀一匀倀 䤀一匀倀䔀䌀吀 倀伀圀䔀刀 䰀䔀䄀䐀匀 唀匀䤀一䜀 倀伀圀䔀刀 吀伀伀䰀匀 匀䄀䘀䔀䰀夀 刀䔀䌀伀刀䐀 䘀䄀唀䰀吀匀 䄀一䐀 吀䄀䜀
圀伀刀䬀䤀一䜀 䄀吀 䠀䔀䤀䜀䠀吀匀
圀伀刀䬀䤀一䜀 䄀吀 䠀䔀䤀䜀䠀吀匀 䔀圀倀 匀䄀䘀䔀吀夀 匀䔀吀 唀倀 匀䔀儀唀䔀一䌀䔀 䘀伀刀 吀刀䔀匀吀䰀䔀匀 䄀一䐀 匀䔀吀 唀倀 匀 倀䰀䄀一䬀匀
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䠀䄀娀䄀刀䐀伀唀匀 䴀䄀吀䔀刀䤀䄀䰀匀
夀伀唀刀 䐀唀吀夀 䤀䐀䔀一吀䤀䘀夀䤀一䜀 䄀匀䈀䔀匀吀伀匀 䤀䐀䔀一吀䤀䘀夀 圀䠀䔀刀䔀 䄀匀䈀䔀匀吀伀匀 䌀䄀一 䈀䔀 䘀伀唀一䐀 䔀一䌀䄀倀匀唀䰀䄀吀䤀一䜀 䄀匀䈀䔀匀吀伀匀 䰀䔀䄀䐀 倀䄀䤀一吀 䠀䄀娀䄀刀䐀匀 䰀䔀䄀䐀 倀䄀䤀一吀 刀䤀匀䬀 䌀伀一䐀唀䌀吀䤀一䜀 䄀 䘀䤀䔀䰀䐀 吀䔀匀吀 䘀伀刀 䰀䔀䄀䐀 䔀堀吀䔀刀䤀伀刀 倀刀䔀䌀䄀唀吀䤀伀一 倀刀䔀倀䄀刀䄀吀䤀伀一匀 倀刀伀吀䔀䌀吀䤀伀一 䄀䜀䄀䤀一匀吀 䰀䔀䄀䐀 䔀堀倀伀匀唀刀䔀 䌀伀一吀䄀䤀一䴀䔀一吀 䰀䔀䄀䐀 䄀䈀䄀吀䔀䴀䔀一吀 䐀刀夀 匀䄀一䐀䤀一䜀 䰀䔀䄀䐀 䄀䈀䄀吀䔀䴀䔀一吀 䌀䠀䔀䴀䤀䌀䄀䰀 匀吀刀䤀倀倀䤀一䜀 圀䔀吀 匀䄀一䐀䤀一䜀 圀䔀吀 䔀一䌀䄀倀匀唀䰀䄀吀䤀伀一 伀䘀 䰀䔀䄀䐀 䌀䰀䔀䄀一 唀倀 倀刀伀䌀䔀䐀唀刀䔀匀 伀䘀 䠀䄀娀䄀刀䐀伀唀匀 匀唀䈀匀吀䄀一䌀䔀匀 䠀䔀䄀䰀吀䠀 匀唀刀嘀䔀䤀䰀䰀䄀一䌀䔀
PAINTING AND DECORATING CPC30611 CERTIFICATE III REVIEW On behalf of the Construction Industry Reference Committee, Artibus Innovation is reviewing the current Certificate III in Painting and Decorating qualification to ensure it adequately address the skill needs of the industry now and into the future. The qualification will also be updated to meet the Standards for Training Packages 2012. This is a multi-stage review that offers on-going and targeted opportunities for stakeholders to provide input. A Technical Advisory Group has been formed and has held two meetings to date. Discussion within the group has been robust but work is continuing to resolve the points of difference. All recommendations put forward by this group will be subject to industry feedback and Industry Reference Committee support.
The stages for Training Product Development are:
The current review is at Stage 2 and input from stakeholders about any aspect of the qualification will be warmly welcomed. Input is sought right up until the final Industry Validation stage and all feedback will be entered into a project register which is addressed by the Technical Advisory Group at their subsequent meetings. At this stage of their project there is a recommendation to add a new unit relating the preparation of new surfaces for painting resulting in an additional core unit.
All discussions and correspondence held to date are discussion points only. The first draft of the refreshed qualification will soon be available for comment .
Please contact
Artibus Innovation at
enquiries@artibus.com.au
2019 January Issue | 23
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A Guide to Profiling your Customers Easily the most important first step in establishing any type of business is to define your customers so that you have the information you need to attract the right audience and generate valuable traffic to your website. Understanding your customers and what makes them tick is the key to any successful business, particularly if you are paying out large amounts of money to drive relevant traffic.
customers and how to reach out to them. You’ll need to understand your own product or service, seek out feedback, learn about your customers’ habits and interests and maintain a consistent and targeted marketing campaign.
Knowing Your Brand
One of the most practical ways of defining your customers is by building customer profiles that represent the typical types of customers that you are aiming for. As a result, you’ll be able to home in on a more specific target audience, communicate with your audience in a more relevant and personalised manner, and ultimately, generate more revenue.
There’s no shortage of novice Internet entrepreneurs out there who are attracted by the empty promises of making a quick profit by selling a product or service that is in high demand, even if they aren’t at all familiar with what they’re selling. The reality of a successful online business venture is quite a different thing, however: you need to be completely familiar with what you are trying to sell, and you need to believe in it.
Every business caters to a specific demographic, and while some audiences might be extremely broad, it is still essential from a marketing perspective that you know your
Whether you’re a lone entrepreneur or you’re planning to start a small business with multiple employees or partners, you’ll need to define your mission and come to fully un-
derstand your products and services. You simply cannot hope to accurately profile your customers if you do not have the utmost familiarity with what you are trying to sell to them. You’ll need to pay attention to every detail before putting yourself in the shoes of your customers. When you know your brand, and it has a clearly defined mission, you’ll be ready to start profiling your customers and tweaking your approach to marketing as necessary.
Seek Feedback Seeking feedback is a critical ongoing process, but you should also start by doing plenty of research before you can even hope to get your marketing strategy off the ground. Your business will inevitably need to adapt over time to the needs and desires of its customers, not least because the customer has far more control these days than ever before by way of things like social media and online reviews.
2019 January Issue | 25
Every day, millions of people turn to Google to find answers to their questions, solutions to their problems or simply something to entertain them. What sort of queries does your business offer solutions for? By knowing your customers’ problems, curiosities and interests, you’ll be able to tailor your content, your marketing strategy and your product itself to better suit those criteria. Seek out feedback from your customers at every opportunity, but make sure that you don’t end up being intrusive, and don’t bombard people with too much information or too many questions. Many customers simply won’t have the time or the patience to leave feedback, and you’ll have to learn to accept that. Fortunately, there are some effective ways of encouraging your customers to leave feedback, such as by offering incentives like promotional codes and other discounts for completing a short survey or answering a few questions about their own preferences and habits. Feedback doesn’t always need to come from customers themselves either. You can gain invaluable insights, albeit not quite as accurate, by reviewing reports on your industry. There are many companies, such as eMarketer and Forrester, which provide insights into specific markets by analysing trends in online behaviour to help your business better define its target audience.
Create Your Customer Avatar Create a profile of your perfect customer. If your business has a particularly broad reach, then you’ll want to segment your target audience and
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create personas for each customer category. Map out the behaviours and interests of your customers based on important factors such as demographics, buying habits, geographical location and more. You can even name these imaginary customers if you like, since this may help you to imagine them in a more practical light.
When defining your customer profiles, be sure to seek answers to the following questions: • What other, related businesses would they likely choose to work with? • What sort of subject matter is most likely to interest them? • What are their demographical attributes? • Where are they located? • What do they need or want? • What do your customers do to entertain themselves? • What is their income level? • How much would they be willing to spend? • What are their priorities and goals in life? • How do they approach change? • What are their past purchases? • How often have they purchased from you?
Avoid basing your customer personas on a real customer, since no single individual can completely represent your target audience. Instead, a customer persona should be reasonably broad, and it should characterise your perfect customer.
Conclusion
With your customer profiles in place, you’ll be able to match each area of your marketing strategy to the individual characteristics of your customers. By targeting smaller and more specific audiences, you should be able to increase the percentage of paying customers and valuable leads instead of wasting time and money on targeting the wrong people. Ultimately, don’t forget that it’s not about getting more visitors to your website: it’s about getting more visitors that go on to become paying customers.
Sandra Price Phone: 07 33724554 VISIT US ON FACEBOOK
VERY RISKY BUSINESS:
The pros and cons of insurance companies embracing artificial intelligence It’s a new day not very far in the future. You wake up; your wristwatch has recorded how long you’ve slept, and monitored your heartbeat and breathing. You drive to work; car sensors track your speed and braking. You pick up some breakfast on your way, paying electronically; the transaction and the calorie content of your meal are recorded. Then you have a car accident. You phone your insurance company. Your call is answered immediately. The voice on the other end knows your name and amiably chats to you about your pet cat and how your favourite football team did on the weekend. You’re talking to a chat-bot. The reason it “knows” so much about you is because the insurance company is using artificial intelligence to scrape information about you from social media. It knows a lot more besides, because you’ve agreed to let it monitor your personal devices in exchange for cheaper insurance premiums. This isn’t science fiction. More than three-quarters of insurance execu-
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tives believe artificial intelligence will revolutionise the industry within a few years. By 2030, according to McKinsey futurists, artificial intelligence will mean your car and life insurance premiums could change based on whether you decide to take one route or another. It will be sold to you on the promise of more personalised service, faster claims processing and lower premiums – and it will deliver on those promises, for the most part. But there are ethical risks too – data privacy and discrimination among them. An insurance company might use your data to figure out how much you would be willing to pay for cover. It might sell the information to a third party. The AI might decide you pose a greater risk because of your age, sex, income or ethnicity.
The internet of things Though the insurance industry in general has an unenviable reputation for taking people’s money then refusing to pay, it is a highly compet-
itive sector. The less agile will probably not survive against competitors using AI to stay profitable while lowering their premiums. To offer lower premiums, an insurer needs to know an individual is, in fact, a lower risk. The enabling technology is the internet of things, the collective name for the billions of internetconnected sensors embedded in all manner of objects we use every day. They are in phones, watches, cars, fitness trackers, home assistants and many other things. Collectively they form an “ecosystem” of sensors. Data collected over time allow the insurer to make an individually tailored risk profile based on a person’s actual behaviour, a practice known as behavioural policy pricing.
Getting ‘smart’ To lower your house and contents insurance, the insurance company will patch into the AI hub that runs your “smart home” through its ecosystem of sensors.
If there is a pattern of burglaries in the neighbourhood, the home hub will know, because it is connected to the insurer’s network. Locks and alarms can be primed and police called at the first sign of trouble. To manage the risk of fire, sensors will monitor heat, humidity and detect smoke. If the stove gets left on, the home hub will turn it off before it becomes a problem. To calculate lower car insurance premiums, your insurance company may want to monitor the way you drive and maintain your car. Health insurance premiums may require giving the insurer access to your medical records and wearing a fitness tracker. A new industry sector will emerge. Specialist companies that deploy IoT sensors and gather the data will partner with insurers to form a new business ecosystem. The whole industry will shift from purely reactive insurance to proactive, risk-minimising cover. It all sounds quite positive. But there are also broader risks in the narrow pursuit of minimising insurance risk.
Discrimination One very clear danger is the problem of profiling – being judged a higher or lower insurance risk because you belong to a particular demographic group. AI can now differentiate risk into hundreds of factors. Algorithms scan these factors to identify clusters of previously unrecognised risk. They can also deduce clusters on their own.
China’s surveillance state gives a glimpse of one dystopian future using AI. Exploiting the technology to maximise private profit is another. Wu Hong/EPA
based on what your DNA reveals about your genetic disposition to certain conditions.
But these conclusions may unintentionally discriminate. There are already many examples where AI algorithms have inadvertently amplified stereotypes.
Read more: Australians can be denied life insurance based on genetic test results, and there is little protection
The case of predictive policing in Durham, England, illustrates the problem. Police there developed an algorithm to better predict the risk posed by people charged with an offence should they be granted bail. What it did was discriminate against poorer people on the basis of where they lived.
Opportunistic pricing There is also the prospect of more individualised discrimination. Already quite well known is the problem of genetic discrimination – the risk of a health or life insurer increasing premiums or even denying cover for certain conditions
AI opens up a whole new area of personalised discrimination, based on what it can glean from your behaviours and preferences. For one thing, the plethora of data potentially available to AI can tell an insurer a lot about your spending habits. Where do you shop? What do you buy? When do you spend? Do you seek out bargains or pay full price? Knowing all this will help an insurance company estimate if it can get away with charging you top price. Some in the industry argue that this is just how markets operate, but when it is facilitated by unprecedented access to personal information, it becomes a highly questionable practice.
2019 January Issue | 29
Loss of privacy An insurer might also be tempted to use the data for purposes other than assessing risk. Given its value, the data might be sold to third parties for various purposes to offset the cost of collecting it. Advertisers, marketers, lobbyists and political parties are all insatiably hungry for detailed demographic data. Read more: What are tech companies
doing about ethical use of data? Not much
Contrary to what people might think, this data is not the property of the person it relates to. It is owned by whoever paid for it. Consumers must
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be legally protected against their data being used for other purposes without their informed consent.
Managing risk With any powerful new technology there are benefits and risks. The benefits should be made clear and the risks managed down to an acceptable level. There is of course irony in having to manage the risk of managing risk.
Insurance companies have a job to do to ensure customers can trust there is far more upside than downside in AI. They will need to adopt transparently fair, if not benevolent, practices that contribute to the greater good. It has to be about more than profit. ---------------------------------------------David Tuffley
Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & SocioTechnical Studies, Griffith University
2019 January Issue | 31
Why Clients Don’t Pay
Many contractors suffer non-payment frequently and struggle to get what’s owed to them. Nonpayment is a disease affecting the construction industry. For a long time, contractors had virtually no bargaining power with which to extract payments from head contractors or principals. Legal action cost too much money and time, and the industry used this to its advantage, leaving contractors broke or struggling with lack of cash-flow. Simply put, non-payers could get away with it. These days, their practice has changed to that of only ‘part paying’ monthly claims and then not paying the final claim at all. The thing about payment is this: The decision not to pay you is made right at the start. At the very first interaction, your client is already deciding whether or not you are going to get paid. Remember, a client will withhold payment from a contractor whom he fears the least.
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In fact, much of the cause of nonpayment lies with you, the contractor. You can control many of these causes, and reduce or eliminate them.
There are 6 key reasons why contractors do not get paid. 1. Working in isolation 2. Making a weak personal impression 3. No debtor policies in place 4. Unable to prove anything in relation to your work 5. Your client knows the contract better than you do 6. Unable to counter unjustified defects and backcharges
enough. Look at your client; doesn’t he have a group of professionals surrounding him? Project managers, contracts administrators, lawyers? This creates a huge difference in power between the lone contractor and the client’s ‘team’. The contractor has little chance against a group of professionals working in a team. Maintain a relationship with your own solicitor, quantity surveyor, expert investigator, or other professional to help you deal with payment disputes.
Making a weak personal impression
Let’s take a closer look.
Many studies have been done on how first impressions are formed, and they are remarkably consistent.
Working in isolation
- 55% is how you look; dress and grooming
You act alone using only your own experience and common sense. Given the complexities of today’s contracts and disputes, this is rarely
- 38% is your voice, language, and posture - 7% is what you say
Now think about that. If you meet your client for the first time with dirty clothes, sweaty hands and no business cards, you are already creating the impression that you are not a professional, and probably a soft touch when it comes to payment. Create the impression that you can manage payment and administrative issues. Have a pen ready when you need it, speak confidently, look the client in the eye, and make sure your business card and quotation/ paperwork don’t look like they’ve been dipped in a meat pie.
No debtor policies in place Without a systematic method of chasing debt, it’s unlikely you’ll pursue the client as soon as payment is overdue. Months may tick by before anything is done, and even then most contractors will make a few phone calls that get the standard response of “oh we don’t have that invoice… can you send us the invoice…”. Create and religiously implement debtor policies. Chase overdue payments in an organised way. Otherwise, you’re sending the message that you can be mucked about for an extended period before you really get serious about getting paid.
Unable to prove anything in relation to your work Clients notice when you agree to do additional work or variations without writing anything down. What about site meetings? Do you take notes? Do you get finicky about paperwork, contracts, variation approvals, changes to scope? Do you keep a site diary?
All these documents become ‘contemporaneous evidence’ and can act to prove what was agreed to, and the related terms, price, and scope. Because most contractors do not keep solid paperwork, gaps form in the history of the project. Non-payers go into these gaps every time. Verbally agreed variations may go unpaid because “they were never approved in writing, never discussed, and completely unauthorised”. Paperwork has had a bad rap: it is seen as bureaucratic red tape. Not true. Paperwork is fantastic, and you should get very excited about doing it. Nothing stops non-payment in its tracks faster, harder, and more ruthlessly than well kept, crystal clear paperwork.
Your client knows the contract better than you do Despite the provisions that exist in your contract, non-payers generally use the same strategy. They will keep you working even though you may be in breach of the contract in some areas. These are usually on minor administrative points which the client places no importance on throughout the project. However when it comes to payment time the client refuses to pay and will then bring up a whole series of allegations of breach of contract on matters that had never been mentioned or raised before. The contractor suddenly realises that
he was working in a manner that breached the contract and this may now be a barrier to getting paid. This happens because the contractor has not read and understood the contract. Read it. If you don’t understand some of it, get professional advice. Too many contractors just check that the price on the contract matches the quote, and then sign every page. That is a perfect way to set yourself up for non-payment.
Unable to counter unjustified defects and back-charges Most contractors do not record the quality of the work as it progresses. This leaves the door open for clients to make allegations of defective work at the very end. By then the area may have been built out or the job completed. This makes it impossible for the contractor to have an independent inspection done while the work is in progress. Often the contractor will offer to return to inspect and fix any defects so that payment will be made. But of course the client will get someone else to do the work for three times the price and then try to back-charge the contractor for the inflated amount. Conduct regular ‘in progress’ inspections. Record and document all quality issues of your work in progress.
Anthony Igra
For more great articles and video information about dealing with payment problems go to www.contractorsdebtrecovery.com.au
or call us on 1300 669 075
2019 January Issue | 33
䤀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀
倀䄀䤀一吀䔀刀匀
䐀漀 礀漀甀 眀愀渀琀 琀漀 搀攀愀氀 眀椀琀栀 愀渀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 挀漀洀瀀愀渀礀 琀栀愀琀 栀愀猀 琀栀攀 戀攀猀琀 愀瘀愀椀氀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 挀漀猀琀ⴀ攀û攀挀琀椀瘀攀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀 琀爀愀搀椀攀猀㼀
䄀甀猀猀椀攀 倀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀 一攀琀眀漀爀欀 栀愀猀 渀攀最漀琀椀愀琀攀搀 琀栀攀 戀攀猀琀 瀀漀猀猀椀戀氀攀 挀漀瘀攀爀 昀漀爀 礀漀甀爀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀⸀ 䌀漀渀琀愀挀琀 甀猀 搀椀爀攀挀琀氀礀 昀漀爀 洀漀爀攀 椀渀昀漀爀洀愀琀椀漀渀 愀渀搀 琀漀 最攀琀 礀漀甀爀 挀漀瘀攀爀 琀漀搀愀礀℀
吀栀攀 猀攀挀甀爀椀琀礀 昀漀爀 琀栀椀猀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀琀 椀猀 瀀氀愀挀攀搀 瘀椀愀 䰀氀漀礀搀猀 漀昀 䰀漀渀搀漀渀 愀猀 眀攀氀氀 愀猀 漀琀栀攀爀 䄀甀猀琀爀愀氀椀愀渀 愀甀琀栀漀爀椀猀攀搀 椀渀猀甀爀攀爀猀⸀ 㠀 ㌀㔀㔀 ㌀㐀㐀 椀渀昀漀䀀愀甀猀猀椀攀瀀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀渀攀琀眀漀爀欀⸀挀漀洀⸀愀甀 眀眀眀⸀愀甀猀猀椀攀瀀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀渀攀琀眀漀爀欀⸀挀漀洀⸀愀甀
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Employee Entitlements WHAT SHOULD THEY GET?
As I’m constantly speaking to painters all over the country, I have noticed that there’s quite a bit of confusion about employers not knowing what they should be paying their employees. They pay the weekly (award) wage and have no idea of all the entitlements that go with it. If you pay above the award wage though and have a Workplace Agreement in place specifying the inclusions, then as long as the employee is better off overall, then (apparently) it is fine. But what are the entitlements? I wanted to put some of the confusion to rest, so I went onto the Fair Work Ombudsman website and have copied and pasted information that may be relevant to you. These are only my findings though, so please go to the website yourself (https://www.fairwork.gov.au/) under the Building
and Construction General On-site Award 2010 [MA000020] before you take any action on pay adjustments and entitlements. There are five items I would like to put to your attention. Some you may know and some you may not, but all of them are part of an employees’ entitlement. 1. Rest and Meal Breaks (An employee gets 1 rest break and 1 meal break each day) A Rest Break is a 10 minute paid break that counts as time worked and must be taken between 9am and 11am. A Meal Break is a 30 minute unpaid break that doesn’t count as time worked and must be taken between 12pm and 1pm or at a time agreed to between the employer and majority of employees.
An employee who works for more than 5 hours must get at least 1 meal break and can’t be asked to work more than 5 hours without a meal break. If an employee has to work during their meal break to finish work, they have to be paid the double time rate for this time or the employee may ask to finish work 30 minutes early instead of being paid at double time. 2. RDO’s (Rostered Days Off) This is a day in a roster period that an employee doesn’t have to work. It can be paid or unpaid, depending on how RDOs are set out in an award or registered agreement. When RDOs are paid, it is because an employee has worked extra hours that add up over a set period of time and this is taken as an RDO.
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Full-time employees can accumulate 1 paid RDO during a roster period of 4 weeks because they have worked a 40 hour week instead of the 38 hour weekly award. They are then entitled to 13 RDOs per year when they work a 20 day cycle continuously for 12 months. During a 4 week cycle of 20 days (5 days each week), an employee will work 8 hours per day for 19 days, and have 1 paid RDO. An employee takes their RDO: a) on the fourth Monday in the 4 week cycle, unless it’s a public holiday, the next working day b) on a day agreed to by the employer and the majority of employees (eg. the 4th Friday). (NB: Check the Building and Construction
Award for information on arranging how to bank RDO’s or substituting an RDO for another day).
3. Vehicle and Travel Travelling during work hours Employees travelling between job sites during work hours in the course of their duties have to be paid for all time spent travelling. They should also be paid the reasonable cost of public transport between the sites if relevant. When an employee is asked to use their own vehicle to travel between work sites, they get a vehicle allowance. For allowance amounts, go to Penalty rates and allowances. This allowance isn’t paid if the employer provides transport or covers the cost of reasonable public transport.
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Travelling to and from work Some employees are entitled to a daily allowance when they’re working at a construction site that is located within a 50 km radius of either: a) the General Post Office in their capital city, or b) the principal post office of a regional city or town. They’re entitled to this allowance when they drive their own vehicle, or when the employer: a) provides them with a work vehicle free of charge and b) requires them to drive this vehicle to and from their home to the job site. This allowance isn’t paid if the employer provides the employee with transport to and from their home to the job site (eg. driving them in a work vehicle or arranging to have them picked up by another driver). The allowance is paid on rostered days off but it’s not paid during periods of leave. However, it’s included when calculating Annual Leave Loading. 4. Annual Leave Loading Leave loading is a payment made on top of the employee’s annual leave. For instance, if an employee has accrued 4 weeks annual leave, they receive and extra 17.5% of the base rate. It was inherited from the 1970’s Labour movement which applied in many industries where doing overtime was normal. When a person is on leave, they missed the opportunity to work overtime and earn extra income. As a consequence, this entitlement was created to compensate the imbalance.
5. Portable Long Service As our industry is project driven, it would be impossible for most workers to accrue enough service with one employer to be eligible for long service leave, but the Australian States and Territories have legislation in the Building and Construction industries to provide employees with access to portable long service leave. QLeave, for instance in Queensland, is industry funded and there is no cost to the employer. All you are required to do is register your employee/s (including apprentices and trainees), and for every year of service (or part of) they will receive credits for the days worked (maximum of 220 per year). Once 2,200 credits are accrued, they are entitled to 8.67 weeks of paid long service leave. Credits can also be transferred from company to company. Other States have similar schemes to QLeave so depending on which State you live in, it is best to contact them directly. I hope I have cleared up a few things up, but please take note as I mentioned above, if you do not pay some of the entitlements above to your employees, then you must make sure that whatever wage you do pay them, they would be equally, or better off overall. Again, all these are my findings, so please go to the website yourself at (https:// www.fairwork.gov.au/) where you can check out all Pay Awards and Entitlements.
Jim Baker www.mytools4business.com
䴀礀 䠀漀甀爀氀礀 刀愀琀攀 䌀愀氀挀甀氀愀琀漀爀 䴀礀 倀愀椀渀琀 䌀漀猀琀椀渀最 䜀甀椀搀攀 2019 January Issue | 37
CONSTRUCTION
Management Sins Through the years, I have watched contracting and construction change. No greater change has taken place than the move from general contracting to construction managing. In the old days, general contractors employed carpenters. Many GC’s even poured their own concrete. Today many, if not most, CM personnel have little hands on craft experience. Their tools of the trade are computers and emails, not hammers and saws. This might be compared to a fine restaurant where management knows little about cooking or a vineyard without a winemaker. Construction management is here to stay as fast track construction and the CM process fits today’s building owner’s style of constructing where time means money.
text that the scaffold needed to be moved? Yes, most of today’s structures are not the Sistine Chapel but they all involve craftsmanship. Yes, craftsmanship has been sped up with faster drying paints, prefabbed products, easier applied materials, etc. etc. but by its very nature, craftsmanship takes time. It also requires sequencing. Just because you can instantly communicate with me by cell, text or email, does not mean that I can instantly perform a craft task. CM’s can demand more people on the job but you still can’t paint the wall until the drywall is up or put the roof on until the building structure is in place. So how can subs win in today’s construction environment?
However, lack of craft knowledge tied into instant communication can create chaos. Can you imagine Michelangelo’s response to an email from the Pope telling him that he is behind schedule or a
1. Quit complaining and accept this new construction norm. Since your new construction customer is not going to change, you must change how you manage your business and put new practices in place.
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2. Visit job sites prior to starting work to ensure the work area is ready. Don’t take the CM’s word for it. Frequently, such schedule/performance demands are done from paperwork and prints, rather than an actual visual inspection of the job. Gather information and see when the job will actually be ready and document what you need. When possible, wait as long as long as you can and have the maximum work area ready. Then attack the job to perform work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Yes, you will take some heat but if you perform big when you do perform, no one will care. 3. Understand that a good offense beats a bad defense. You must tell the construction manager what you need to stay on schedule. Use technology and planning to stay ahead of things. Take photos of work areas where you plan to be next week and clearly layout what you need to be finished or done so you can be on schedule.
Don’t be rude or offensive, merely document the facts. Numerous apps are available where you can take a photo of an area, write on it what you need and email the photo. This is truly a case where a picture is worth a thousand words. Sell the CM superintendent that you are going to make he or she look good as long as you get open work area availability. Merely state the facts and as a professional layout a clear path of work. Be reasonable and realistic. In the construction manager’s on site personnel’s defense.
4. You need better foreman. No longer can you survive with a guy who is merely a good tradesperson. Your people must be able to plan ahead and see what is needed. If they do not have that ability, project management will have to do it for them. Wait and assume all is ok and you will die a slow death by slowed production.
Consider going digital. If you are going to stay in this fast track world, you need to do the research and be able to have jobsite digital access to prints and other information. It is hard to build something if you don’t know what you are going to build.
a. Craftspeople: Do you have the people available to do the job or can you let a couple go to another job until this one picks up?
5. Planning is a visualization of your goals. Each and every week plan one week in advance for the following things.
b. Tools and equipment: Do you have the tools, lifts or other equipment that you may need?
c. Material: Do you have the material needed or can you verify it’s on order and will be available? d. Work area: Is the work area available? Do other crafts need to finish work before you can perform your scope of work? In summary, everything changes. If you are not growing, you are dying. New construction is not the same business it was 25 years ago. To make matters worse, gross margins are lower and schedules tighter. The only way you can survive is to be more efficient and do a better job of preplanning.
Monroe Porter
is president of PROOF Management a firm that teaches seminars and runs networking groups for painting contractors.
www.proofman.com
Construction Industry Mentoring Flyer BUSY At Work and Construction Skills Queensland (CSQ) have teamed up to offer a new and exciting mentoring program for apprentices and trainees in the construction industry. Industry Specialist Mentoring for Australian Apprentices (ISMAA) provides individual support to Australian Apprentices and Trainees in the first two years of their apprenticeship or traineeship. The program is aimed at industries where automation, robotics and other new technology or influences are changing the future roles of apprentices and trainees, and tradespeople. BUSY At Work are proud to be delivering the ISMAA program on behalf of the Australian Government. We will work intensively with apprentices to help them stay engaged, complete their training and achieve great things in their careers and to become the great tradespeople of the future.
Our ISMMA mentors have a wide range of experience and understand the changing nature of your industry. Our Industry Specialist mentors will engage with the mentee to create a specific and individual mentoring plan to be implemented over a 6 month period. Visits will focus on workplace and industry changes, future career options and new skills that may be required. BUSY At Work believes this program will benefit all involved and help improve the retention rate of apprentices and trainees in the construction industry.
Tim Gillespie ISMAA Mentor - BUSY At Work 0438 869 227 Tim.Gillespie@busyatwork.com.au Visit busyatwork.com.au/ismaa
2019 January Issue | 39
Industry Specialist Mentoring for Australian Apprentices (ISMAA) is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training.
Employees: Casuals or Permanent? Or both? Many people would agree that keeping a constant workflow and steady employees is a difficult task for any business owner or manager within the construction industry. For many, predicting the amount of work that will be accepted by potential clients next quarter, next month, or even next week can be a difficult task, and many of us have experienced times where we have had too much work to handle and seemingly booked out for months into the future, and then other times work will get slow for no reason before we start drowning in it again. While there are steps we can take to help smooth out the highs and lows, the very nature of running a painting business is cyclical workloads and employment. One way that business owners and employees have used previously and some still are, is by “contract wages” where the labour is performed and charged out per
hour on invoice and the “employee” supplying their own ABN. In previous years, this was incredibly popular and for good reason, it was seemed to be easy, cheap, and effective. An employee could finish with one company when work slowed and start with another the following day without the pain of filling out all the employee forms, superannuation forms, and employee induction paperwork to simply work for a friend’s business for a week before going back to your regular employer when the next job kicks off. There are several issues with this system which I will cover in future articles, however this method is now known as sham contracting and is very high on the ATO’s hit list along with Fair Work getting involved in a different capacity. With very few exceptions, sham contracting is not permitted and an employer still employing people in this manner is taking a huge risk
by potentially opening themselves up to litigation and prosecution for breaching relevant legislation. (Another article on this in the future too.) So why did I start this article by talking about cyclical workloads and sham contracting? Because many employers are now aware of their responsibilities to employee people on Tax File Number (TFN) and are now moving people across. However how do you get around the varying workload? Some weeks you need all your staff as much as they can work, and next month you may have two slow weeks; who wants to get stuck paying your employees to sit at home on full pay? A common method that has been tried is by putting employees on a “Casual” work basis, simple, they get work when you have it, none when you don’t, and you don’t have to pay holidays or sick pay. Well, not really.
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I won’t go in too deep into the legal terminology because let’s face it, learning Latin to read this article – ain’t no one got time for that – so I’ll put it in plain English as much as I can. A Casual employee is one that is hired on a strictly casual basis, they get paid for what they work, and you as the employer have no obligation to provide them with work if you choose not to (exceptions like antidiscrimination, or if the employment contract states otherwise). So this seems like a great fix.
Basically, in plain English, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck – it’s a duck. So even if you want to call it a horse, everyone still knows that it is a duck. There is a common perception of the law that the words put down on a page and signed to are more important than the substance of the action or the actual effect on the parties. It is not uncommon for sections of contracts to be read down (effectively struck out) to avoid mischief (where not everything is above board).
If a Casual employee is effectively a permanent employee, with a regular set of hours, with a consistent flow of work and the employee effectively unable to choose to work elsewhere on a particular day or week and return without detriment to the first company, then they are likely not a casual employee in the strict sense of the word as per the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
I can already hear people shouting at me saying that it’s not fair, casuals are already paid more per hour than full time in lieu of entitlements, surely that’s double dipping. And yes, I suppose it, is. However this is now covered by an update to the Fair Work Regulations 2009, in December 2018 that aims to prevent employees from “double dipping”. If a permanent arrangement is declared, then the employer might still be able to recalculate the pay without the casual loading and use this to offset any possible leave entitlements under the National Employment Standards.
In a recent case of Workpac Pty Ltd v Skene [2018] FCAFC 131 an employee with an employment contract stating they were a casual, but who was given a permanent roster to work alongside the same staff on daily basis, and his contracted provided for only 1Hrs notice of termination. Mr Skene’s employment was continuous apart from one 7day unpaid period agreed to in advance. Mr Skene filed with the Federal Circuit Court and was successful in proving, that even though the employment contract stated he was a casual, the basis of his regular employment and the continued and indefinite nature of his employment reflected that of a permanent employee. As such, he was eligible to be paid leave as would a permanent employee. This decision was upheld on appeal at the Federal Court of Australia Full Court.
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Key considerations: 1. How far in advance is there a stated intention for employment; written or verbal, for employment? 2. What is the actual nature of the employment? Tip: do you think or refer to them as full-time casuals? 3. Consider offering permanent positions where practical (permanent does not necessarily mean fixed hours) 4. Review your employment contracts and the actual circumstances, to see how the recent decisions may affect your business.
It is important to note that ignorance is no excuse, and employment is a two-way street. While some employees may prefer to be on a casual employment basis to receive the 25% loading in lieu of entitlements, some may prefer the stability and access to paid leave. However, keeping yourself on the right side of the law is a far better position than potentially being caught out, especially considering the financial implications and possibly criminal action for some breaches. ----------------------------------------------
James Thompson
Former painting contractor Currently studying Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Employment Relations at Griffith University. Possible leads for an employment opportunity in this sector would be greatly appreciated, please contact me on LinkedIn or 0477 108 176 if you are able to help a fellow painter. The information contained in this article is for general interest only. The content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. The application and impact of laws can vary widely depending on specific circumstances. Specific legal advice should be sought from an independent professional before acting upon information contained in this article.
夀漀甀 琀愀欀攀 琀栀攀 猀愀洀瀀氀攀猀 愀渀搀 猀攀渀搀 琀栀攀洀 琀漀 匀礀搀渀攀礀 䄀渀愀氀礀琀椀挀愀氀 䰀愀戀猀⸀ 吀栀攀 氀愀戀 愀渀愀氀礀猀攀猀 琀栀攀 猀愀洀瀀氀攀 愀渀搀 眀攀 攀砀瀀氀愀椀渀 琀栀攀 爀攀猀甀氀琀猀⸀ 2019 January Issue | 43
The Industry
Idiots
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Important Contacts Aussie Painters Network www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
Ph. 0430 399 800
National Institute for Painting and Decorating www.painters.edu.au
Ph. 1300 319 790
Australian Tax Office www.ato.gov.au
Ph. 13 72 26 / Ph. 13 28 65
Award Rates www.fairwork.gov.au
Ph. 13 13 94
Fair Work Building & Construction www.fwbc.gov.au
Ph. 1800 003 338
Mates In Construction www.matesinconstruction.com.au
Ph. 1300 642 111
Workplace Health and Safety Contacts Comcare WorkSafe ACT Workplace Health and Safety QLD Victorian WorkCover Authority WorkCover NSW SafeWork SA WorkSafe WA NT WorkSafe WorkSafe Tasmania
www.comcare.gov.au www.worksafe.act.gov.au www.worksafe.qld.gov.au www.vwa.vic.gov.au www.workcover.nsw.gov.au www.safework.sa.gov.au www.commerce.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe/ www.worksafe.nt.gov.au www.worksafe.tas.gov.au
1300 366 979 02 6207 3000 1300 362 128 1800 136 089 13 10 50 1300 365 255 1300 307 877 1800 019 115 1300 366 322
www.actcancer.org www.cancercouncil.com.au www.cancercouncilnt.com.au www.cancerqld.org.au www.cancersa.org.au www.cancervic.org.au www.cancerwa.asn.au
(02) 6257 9999 (02) 9334 1900 (08) 8927 4888 (07) 3634 5100 (08) 8291 4111 (03) 9635 5000 (08) 9212 4333
Cancer Council Australia ACT NSW NT QLD SA VIC WA
2019 January Issue | 45
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