An Employer’s Guide to Conducting a HR Health Check

07 Nov An Employer’s Guide to Conducting a HR Health Check

Have you checked your business’ HR health today?

While it’s all fun and games to joke about how many cobwebs are in the office employee records room or that your employment contracts still reference an “MSN conduct policy” (remember MSN?), not reviewing your business’ HR function on a regular and systematic basis can bring about significant repercussions for a business.

If your business’ HR has not been checked regularly and systematically, your business will most certainly not be up-to-date with the current Australian workplace and employment law and may very well be in breach of some of those laws.

Every business, regardless of whether they have a fully-fledged HR division or whether the business owner or employer takes care of all the HR themselves, should conduct regular checks of their HR health.

Accordingly, we have decided to provide some reminders on the importance of performing checks on your business’ HR health as well as some guiding points on what components of HR your health check should cover.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMING AN HR HEALTH CHECK

1.   How is your business’ HR function tracking lately?

2.  Is it thriving? Is it non-existent?

3.  Who is responsible for your business’ HR?

4.  When was the last time it was checked?

5.  Has it been checked regularly?

6.  What did these checks examine?

7.  Who conducted the checks?

8.  Have you reviewed your employees’ pay each 1 July?

9.  Is your HR up-to-date and compliant with all current Australian workplace and employment legislation?

If any – and all – of the above questions made your brow breakout in a small sweat… your business’ HR may not be all that “healthy”.

Ultimately, the HR function or component of a business, is responsible for:

If your HR is not looking healthy, the chances are grimly high that you may not be meeting all your obligations as an employer or business owner and/or your business may even be in breach of Australian workplace and employment laws.

It is therefore important to ensure your business’ HR is comprehensively checked by an experienced, HR practitioner or employment lawyer on a regular and systematic basis.  Further, it is equally as important to ensure each health check covers off on all the essential components of your business’ HR function.

HR HEALTH CHECK COMPONENTS

The HR function of a business covers a broad array of areas.  Due to this, any health check for a business’ HR function should ensure that it covers off on all areas of the business that are relevant to HR.

That all seems relatively straight-forward, however, people often forget just how large the scope of HR is.  HR encompasses much more than the age-old belief of “hiring and firing”.

Below, are some of the components typically examined during a HR health check for a business (Note: the below components are purely a guide and your business may include these components and much more):

With the scope of a business’ HR function being so diverse and Australian employment legislation receiving regular updates, it is evident that all businesses should be regularly checking on their HR health.

In order to be ready to pass an examination from a Fair Work Inspector and to minimise your personal and business risk  of fines or penalties from the Fair Work Ombudsman, it is highly recommended that you conduct regular and systematic checks on your business’ HR health.

HR Business Assist Members, don’t forget that we offer two (2) complimentary onsite or virtual visits to your business with EVERY 12 month subscription which can be used for ANY HR need (including a HR health check)!

For more information on the services HR Business Assist can offer your business or to schedule HR Business Assist to come and perform a HR health check on your business, contact us on 1300 138 551.