By Juan Lucia
There are many areas that employment lawyers in Melbourne can assist with. Below, this article lists the top four. Read on to find out more about how an employment lawyer can help your business.
Dealing with Contracts
When you’re an employer, you’re constantly creating new contracts. Whenever anyone is hired, a new contract is needed. Not only that, but your contracts all need to be lawful and comply with legislation pertaining to employment law in your state or territory. The only way you can ensure that this happens is by hiring employment lawyers in Melbourne to help you draft contracts. Another area that employment lawyers can assist with is drafting remuneration and bonus policies. It’s essential that there’s a robust structure in place for financial bonuses for employees so everyone knows where they stand. This is all about getting the legal skeleton of your business in place so that it supports the efficient and legal running of your business.
Negotiating with Unions
You can’t stop employees from creating a union or negotiating terms of employment. In fact, it’s illegal to attempt to do so. When collective bargaining begins, it can put a strain on both employees and employers. Employees may want better pay or conditions, whereas employers may not know if they have the resources to accept their requests. Employment lawyers in Melbourne can be very useful, acting as a mediator in the situation and representing the employer during collective bargaining. Employment lawyers can advise you on the legalities of collective bargaining and how the process might pan out. It’s much better to go through negotiations with unions with employment lawyers by your side, as you’ll be better informed and can know what to expect at every juncture.
Avoiding Discrimination or Harassment
If you seek to create a positive work environment at your company, then you also seek to avoid discrimination or harassment in the work culture. Employment lawyers in Melbourne can help in this regard because they can make you aware of the laws that pertain to discrimination and harassment and what they look like in the workplace. Some kinds of discrimination and harassment are more subtle than others, so it pays to have an overarching definition. Even though you may work hard to keep your workplace non-toxic, sometimes bad things can still happen against your wishes. It’s not possible to keep an eye on every employee in all sectors of the company at all times, and slip ups can occur. If a case of discrimination or harassment is reported to you, you need to treat it seriously. If you already have employment lawyers on your advisory team, they will be able to help guide you through the legalities of the situation, pointing out to you your responsibilities so you can stay on the right side of the law.
Planning for the Future
When you have employment lawyers in Melbourne on your side, it makes planning for the future a whole lot easier. This is because you will have foresight into any legal issues that could come up as you expand as a business. You might need to change your remuneration or bonus structure at certain points to keep up with the economy, or you might need to deal with collective bargaining, or discrimination or harassment cases. But the main point is that when you have employment lawyers as part of your advisory team, you can avoid some trips and falls along the way.
