Latest Tools & Resources

Restraint of trade clause enforced

When senior staff members in particular defect to a competitor what are your rights in being able to restrain them from taking your clients and your staff with them? This has long been a difficult area – are you entitled to stop them or restrict them from competing in your domain per se or not? If not, what are you entitled to restrict them from doing? more

The ‘ill defined line’ between independent contractor and employee

The Fair Work Australia (FWA) decision in John Barrett v Create (Geelong) Inc T/A Create [2010] FWA 5576 (28 July 2010) has thrown even more uncertainty around the divide between employee and independent contractor. While this has always been an area of employment that has caused considerable debate, this case appears to cause even more confusion. While there were significant factors to suggest that Mr. Barrett was an independent contractor the tribunal looked at the nature of the work performed and whether it was integral to the employee respondent’s business. In finding that it was, this very influential in finding that Mr. Barrett was in fact an employee. more

Directing an employee to go home.....

Can an employer send an employee home when he refuses to work his roster?
The options available to employers when an employee refuses to perform part or all of his or her role were canvassed in a recent appeal decision of the Federal Court.more

The Working Holiday Maker program - administered by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC)

The Working Holiday Makers program is a program where young people from various countries can come to Australia and experience the Australian way of life. It has been designed to encourage cultural exchange and closer ties between participating countries by allowing young people to have an extended holiday in Australia which can be supplemented by stints of short term work. The relevant visas are the Working Holiday (subclass 417) and the Work and Holiday (subclass 462). more

If it walks like a duck....fixed term vs continuing employment

In Mark Drummond v Canberra Institute of Technology (Drummond) Fair Work Australia (FWA) affirmed the view of the Full Bench in Department of Justice v Lunn (2006) (Lunn) that when a contract for a nominated period or an ‘outer limit contract’ reaches its nominated end date, the contract terminates though the ‘effluxion of time’ and there is no termination at the initiative of the employer.more

The Risks of Working Hours

Codes of Practice provide practical guidance along with any required technical information to duty holders, including on-hire firms and host organisations. Codes of Practice are not mandatory, however they are the minimum standard for employers to achieve and almost impossible to ignore, due to the practical guidance and advice they provide. As Codes of Practice are not mandatory, and a duty holder may choose to use some other way to achieve compliance. more

“Unpleasant” performance management - constructive dismissal?

Using performance management threats as a means of ‘encouraging’ staff to resign has been the subject of a recent decision of Fair Work Australia (FWA).

In the case of Mr John Little v Petfood Processors (WA) Pty Ltd [2010] FWA (5 August 2010) Mr Little was threatened with the prospect of close and unreasonable performance management, which would involve a formal warning process and would ultimately end in termination, if he did not resign. more

Members wishing to ask any BSC related query should email bsc@rcsa.com.au

News - RCSA CEO Message

RCSA bridgingconnections Hobart - a huge success!

I am very pleased to report that the RCSA bridgingconnections conference held in Hobart last week was a great success. This was my first (hopefully of many) RCSA conferences and quite simply I could not have been more impressed by the quality of the speakers and the delegates. The conference has only just wrapped up and I have already received numerous positive formal and informal feedback about the conference organisation and most importantly the speaker quality.

It became very clear to me over the course of last week that this conference is RCSA's cornerstone annual event and a must for recruitment industry leaders and business owners. The high level professional development and networking opportunities are absolutely second to none for this industry.

I would like to thank the RCSA board and volunteers who assisted with the planning and fulfilment of this event and also thank Claudia Gray the RCSA Learning Centre Manager who immersed herself in the planning and execution of this event for 12 months. Thank you also to our great sponsors and supporters who make the flagship event possible. In particular our Platinum Sponsor Recruitment super and Gold Sponsor OAMPS, Silver Sponsors CareerOne, Seek and Bank of Queensland and our Bronze Sponsors Liberty, WR Berkley and Oxford Funding.

Lastly I would like to thank all the delegates for taking the time out of their busy schedules to attend. At this years event we had a very good mix of first time and repeat attendees and I am confident the majority will be back in 2011. One of the key tenants of any profession is commitment to continuous education - delegates attending the conference demonstrated their commitment to maintaining their knowledge and skills - the RCSA commitment to it's members is to continue to provide quality education and professional development opportunities such as the annual RCSA Recruitment Industry Leaders Conference. So stay tuned for more information about when and where this event will be in 2011!

Key RCSA Initiatives for 2010/11

Prior to the RCSA Conference an RCSA board meeting was held. I am pleased to report that the RCSA Board has provided approval to progress with a number of projects and initiatives over the coming months. These projects and initiatives are designed to build on the RCSA member value proposition to ensure your industry/professional body is working for you and your industry.

Over the next few issues of Newshub I will take the opportunity to provide more detail on the initiatives below. In the interim if you have any feedback or questions please feel free to contact me directly viasgranland@rcsa.com.au

• Introduce an annual RCSA Member services survey - to run every September to ensure timely and relevant data is collected on what RCSA Members are looking for in their member value proposition
• New RCSA website - built on association industry best practice with ease of use a priority! (launching 2010)
• Recruitment Journal - return to a hard copy Recruitment journal from 2011
• Individual Membership - review to ensure access to an individual membership framework which properly reflects experience and education
• CPE simplification - amending the current CPE model to ensure it is based of professional association best practice
• RCSA Membership differentiation - actively promoting the RCSA Member differentiation to your market to ensure they know and appreciate the important differences between an RCSA Member and a non-member.

There will of course be other projects and initiatives we will pick up going forward - all of which will be aimed at ensuring the RCSA continues to build value for it's members and the recruitment industry. My commitment to RCSA Members going forward is that we will not adopt any project or initiative which does not provide a "Yes" response to the question - "Will RCSA Members or the recruitment industry benefit from this?".

Celebrating RCSA Member Success

If you have a good news story you would like to share with the industry please email Elisha via etaafe@rcsa.com.au.

Congratulations to Stephen Porter of Searson Buck in Hobart for winning two tickets to attend the 2011 RCSA bridgingconnections Conference. Stephen was the lucky winner drawn from the delegates at this year’s bridgingconnection Conference “Different Conversations”. We look forward to seeing you there in 2011

New RCSA Members

Welcome to the following organisations who have become RCSA Corporate Members since 1st August 2010

• MTC Recruitment Limited
• TMS Consulting

Welcome to the follwing individuals who have become RCSA Accredited Professional Recruiters since 17st August 2010

• Michelle Wallace, APRCSA
• Diane Villareal, APRCSA
• Peter Faulkner, APRCSA
• Jim Thomson, APRCSA

RCSA Member Benefits

to RCSA Members are a range of WebinRs covering various topics from the Code for Professional Conduct. These WebinRs are a perfect way to refresh your knowledge on the Code and to provide solutions to problems that may have puzzled you. Here are some that are coming up!!!

19th October: Free Code WebinR, All’s Fair in Recruitment – They are my Contacts after All!

NZ Members Click here
AUS Members Click here for more information.