Closing for a well-deserved end of year break?

Posted on 19 October 2022 | by Allan Hall

It’s time to let your clients and employees know

Act now to ensure your client expectations and employee legislative requirements are met.

Informing Clients of Business Shutdowns

It is common for a workplace to shut down its operations over the Christmas-New Year period because of a reduction in business activity or because the majority of employees request to take annual leave.

It’s up to businesses to determine closure dates and ensure these are clearly communicated to clients as early as possible, so that reasonable expectations are set and deadlines are met without creating any unnecessary worry. Recommended communication includes separate emails to clients, newsletter footers, invoice footers, notes on email signatures or any combination of the above.

To assist with planning your shutdown period, the NSW gazetted public holidays for the upcoming holiday season are:

Christmas Day: Sunday 25 December 2022
Boxing Day: Monday 26 December 2022
Additional Public Holiday for Christmas Day: Tuesday 27 December 2022
New Year’s Day: Sunday 1 January 2023
Additional Public Holiday for New Year’s Day: Monday 2 January 2023
Australia Day: Thursday 26 January 2023

Get ahead of the game. Download our Business Shutdown Client Email template to send to your clients.

Employee Notifications

Employers planning to close over the Christmas-New Year period need to also correctly inform employees from now. Employers are obligated to formally confirm business closure dates and notify staff in accordance with award requirements.

Most awards will contain terms which allow employers to shut down the business for a period and send employees on designated annual leave. This is usually subject to an employer providing at least 4 weeks’ notice of the intention to do so, however certain awards may require a greater notice period.

It’s never too early to start planning. Download our Business Shutdown Employee Notice template.

Employee Leave Considerations

Annual Leave Requests

With the Christmas and Summer Holiday period fast approaching, you may also notice an increased number of annual leave requests waiting for your approval. For those businesses that shut down over this period, approving annual leave is usually a joyous task. However, for smaller businesses continuing to trade during this period, it can be a difficult juggling act to ensure you have enough employees on board to meet your customers’ needs while also ensuring employees receive a well-deserved break.

When reviewing annual leave applications, it is important to remember that you cannot unreasonably refuse to authorise an employee’s request to take annual leave. If you need assistance with understanding the rules surrounding ‘reasonableness,’ please do not hesitate to make contact with our HR team.

Can employees refuse to work on Public Holidays?

Employers can request that employees work on a public holiday if the request is reasonable. Likewise, an employee can refuse to work on a public holiday if the employer’s request is not reasonable. In determining whether the employer’s request is reasonable, under the Fair Work Act a broad range of factors are taken into account. These include:

The nature of the employer’s workplace and the nature of the employee’s work
The employee’s personal circumstances
Whether the employee could reasonably expect the employer might request work on the public holiday
Whether the employee is entitled to receive overtime or other penalty payments that reflects the expectation to work public holidays
The type of employment of the employee (eg whether full-time, part-time, casual or shift work)
The amount of notice in advance of the public holiday given by the employer to the employee
The amount of notice given by the employee when refusing a request to work on a public holiday

Unsure of what applies or what steps to take? Don’t guess – seek advice.

Our team at Allan Hall Human Resource Services have years of first-hand experience to guide you and your business to a safe, enjoyable, and carefree festive season.

If you require advice on the conditions relating to your Employer rights or obligations, please get in touch with our highly experienced HR team on (02) 8978 3752 or simply contact us below.

CONTACT ALLAN HALL HR

Why aged care matters

Posted on 7 February 2022 | by Allan Hall

It’s important to explore options whilst you can make informed decisions

The last couple of years have been tough on a lot of people with the COVID pandemic throwing the world into chaos and taking a toll on our physical, mental, financial and emotional wellbeing.

If you have had a family member in aged care over the period of lockdowns and were not able to visit them or help care for them, you were probably even more grateful to the staff who turned up day in and day out to care for the residents. This highlights, even more, the importance of having options when it comes to aged care, and getting it right for you.

Accommodation options in retirement and aged care

Own home – if you choose to remain in your own home there are a range of services that can be provided under a Home Care Package (HCP). These may include personal care, clinical support and light home duties. A HCP can be hard to secure with greater demand than supply. As at 31 March 2021 there were 183,376 people who had accessed a HCP. This is a 20.7 per cent increase since 31 March 2020¹.

There is also a Commonwealth Home Support Program which is assessed by the regional assessment service to determine the type of in-home care needed.

Retirement village – a retirement village is a residential option offering a community lifestyle designed specifically for the needs and lifestyles of people over age 55. Most retirement villages offer self-contained accommodation for independent living. They may also provide services such as meals, cleaning and personal care for an additional fee.

Aged care accommodation – residential aged care is a purpose-built facility that offers specialised care for those who need assistance with their everyday living. The services provided may include:

on-call staff for assistance
meals
basic accommodation services such as furnishings
cleaning and general laundry
bedding
maintenance of buildings and grounds.

Additional services (such as hairdressing, outings or a cafe) are offered by some aged care residential facilities at an extra cost.

Accessing accommodation packages

A conversation with an Aged Care Assessment Team (ACAT) is the key to accessing what packages are available to an individual to help determine if a home care package can be secured, or if entry to residential aged care accommodation is the more suitable option.

An ACAT assessment is done by doctors, nurses and social workers to assess the physical and mental needs of the individual.

Choosing an aged care facility

The decision on which aged care facility to choose is made by the prospective resident and their family. This decision may be largely based on accommodation cost and availability, but consideration should also be given to family circumstances, quality of the accommodation and facilities, reputation of the facility, closeness to family and friends and other personal and emotional factors.

It’s important to remember there are often long waiting lists for entry to many facilities, so it’s a matter of weighing up the urgency of entry and the availability of preferred facilities. The sooner you consider your aged care options and get onto a waitlist, the easier it is to make the transition. In saying this, you should also be prepared to move rapidly once a facility can accommodate you, as places tend to be assigned very quickly and if you take too long to decide, it may be offered to someone else.

Other considerations

This article barely scratches the surface of things you need to know when it comes to your aged care, or that of a family member or close friend. There is a lot to understand when it comes to costs, whether the family home needs to be sold or can be retained, impacts on the age pension for those in receipt of this social security payment and thought to ongoing income.

Talk to a Financial Adviser

With so much to know about this very important decision around how you, or someone you care about, will live out their final years, it’s important to get all the facts from a qualified Financial Adviser who understands the aged care system and can provide options and advice, giving consideration to your individual circumstances.

Make an appointment today to discuss aged care, it’s important to explore your options while you are of sound mind and can make informed decisions.

General Advice Warning

The information contained on this website is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser.

Mark O’Connell, Robin Bell and Allan Hall Financial Planning Pty Ltd are Authorised Representatives of Consultum Financial Advisers Pty Ltd ABN 65 006 373 995 AFSL 230323.

Source

*IOOF Survey 2020: The True Value of Advice – A study of 12,643 Australians is an Authorised Representative of Lonsdale Financial Group, ABN 76 006 637 225, AFSL No 246934. This is general advice only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. Before acting on this advice, you should consult a financial adviser.

5 ways to stick to your financial resolutions

Posted on 12 July 2021 | by Allan Hall

Setting a goal for the New Financial Year?

Take steps to make it work.

It’s that other time of year when we set new goals or dust off old ones. But how can we boost our chances of sticking to our financial resolution? Here are some practical tips.

1. Choose an attainable goal

It’s good to be ambitious, but you may have a better chance of adhering to your resolution if you have a smaller, reachable goal. Using the well-established SMART formula can help. SMART stands for:

Specific – make your financial goal as clear as possible.
Measurable – if your goal is specific, most likely it is measurable too.
Achievable – choose a goal that you can reach in the foreseeable future.
Relevant – ensure you really want this goal and that it would benefit you.
Time bound – set a timeline for achieving your target.

2. Have a plan

Create a plan that can help you take small but regular steps toward reaching your financial goal. The key is to set specific milestones and a timeframe for each. You may wish to talk to your financial adviser about setting a plan for your financial situation and goal.

3. Announce your resolution

Tell your family members or friends about your resolution, or post it on social media. By making your resolution known to others, you might feel more responsible for sticking to it.

4. Track your progress

Record and analyse your progress against your milestones. It could help to get your financial adviser to check your progress every so often.

5. Enjoy the process

Enjoying the process of reaching your goal may help you stick to your financial resolution. So give yourself a small reward every time you hit a milestone.

Whether you want to boost your savings or retirement fund, your financial adviser may be able to help you stay on track to achieve your resolution.

General Advice Warning

Mark O’Connell, Robin Bell and Allan Hall Financial Planning Pty Ltd are Authorised Representatives of Consultum Financial Advisers Pty Ltd ABN 65 006 373 995 AFSL 230323.