HSC Human Resources

Human Resource Management

the management of the total relationship between an employer and employee

Employer

exercises control over employees, has responsibility for payment of wages and holds the power to dismiss employees

Employee

is a worker under an employer's control.

Interdependence

the relationship between each of the key functional areas within an organisation and how this impacts on its ability to achieve strategic goals.

Outsourcing

contracting out business functions involving the use of third-party specialist businesses.

Contractor

external provider of services to a business. It may be an individual or a business.

Stakeholders

an individual or group that has a common interest in or is affected by the actions of an organisation.

Employer associations

organisations that represent and assist employer groups.

Log of claims

is a list of demands made by workers against their employers.

Trade unions

are organisations formed by employees in an industry, trade or occupation to represent them in efforts to improve wages and the working conditions of their members

Statutes

are laws made by federal and state parliaments

Constitutional corporation

falls under section 51(xx) of the Constitution of Australia - identified as foreign corporations and trading or financial corporations formed within the limits of the Commonwealth

Modern award

an industry or occupation-based award which covers all private sector employers and employees who perform work that falls within their scope. They replace all existing national system awards (except single enterprise). They do not cover employees earning higher incomes.

Awards

are legally enforceable formal agreements made collectively between employers and employees and their representatives at the industry level. They are determines by an industrial court or tribunal and set out minimum wages and conditions of employees.

Award simplification

is the process of reducing the number of matters in each award and eliminating inefficient work practices.

Judicial power

the power of courts to interpret and apply laws.

Social justice

businesses being responsible or behaving in a fair and ethical manner towards their employees, customers and the broader community.

Centralised industrial relations system

a collective approach in which disputes are referred to industrial tribunals, such as the Fair Work Commission, for conciliation and arbitration.

Decentralised industrial relations systems

employers and employees negotiate wages and working conditions in the individual workplace, through collective or individual bargaining without the involvement of tribunals.

Productivity Commission

the Australian Government's independent research and advisory body in respect to a variety of economic, social and environmental issues affecting the welfare of Australians

Employment contract

a legally binding, formal agreement between employer and employee.

Common law

is developed by courts and tribunals

Equity

the workplace is the provision of equal opportunities for all employees to gain access to jobs, training and career paths in the workplace.

Award

the legally enforceable minimum terms and conditions that apply to a business or industry

Individual Flexibility Arrangements (IFA)

allow an employer and an employee to come to an agreement that varies the modern award or enterprise agreement to address their individual circumstances.

Enterprise agreements

are collective agreements made at a workplace level between an employer and a group of employees about terms and conditions of employment

Collective agreements

are made between a group of employees (or one or more unions representing employees) and an employer or group of employers.

The better off overall test (BOOT)

requires that each of the employees to be covered by the agreement is better off overall than under the relevant modern award.

Individual contracts

exist when an employer and an individual employee negotiate a contract covering pay and conditions

Independent contactors

often known as consultants or freelancers, undertake work for others, however they do not have the same legal status as an employee.

Casual employees

are in employment that is short term, irregular and uncertain, they are not entitled to paid holidays or sick leave.

On-costs

are additional costs involved in hiring an employee, above the cost of their wages. These costs traditionally add around 25% of the cost of the wage and include sick leave, holiday leave, leave loading, superannuation, retirement and redundancy payments and other costs.

Workers' compensation

provides a range of benefits to an employee suffering from an injury or disease related to their work. It is also provided to families of injured employees when the injury/disease was caused by, or related to , their work.

Discrimination

occurs when a policy or a practice disadvantages a person or a group of people because of a personal characteristic that is irrelevant to the performance of the work.

Equal employment opportunity (EEO)

refers to equitable policies and practices in recruitment, selection, training and promotion.

Affirmative action

refers to measures taken to eliminate direct and indirect discrimination, and for implementing positive steps to overcome the current and historical causes of lack of equal employment opportunity for women.

Structural change

refers to a change in the nature and pattern of production of goods and services within an economy. This includes a significant growth in the level of services in an economy compared to other sectors.

Participation rate

refers to the percentage of a given group of individuals of working age who are employed or actively seeking work.

The ageing of the workforce

refers to the growth in the average age of the population, due to sustained low fertility and increasing life expectancy. As a result, there are proportionally fewer children under 15 in the population, and more people in older age groups.

Ethical business practices

are those practices that are socially responsible, morally right, honourable and fair.

Code of conduct

is a statement of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours in a business.

Code of ethics

is a statement of a firm's values and principles

Best practice

refers to a business practices that are regarded as the best or the highest standard in the industry.

Code of practice

is a statement of the principles used by a business in its operations. It generally refers to practices that are sen as ethical or socially responsible.

Acquisition

the process of attracting and recruiting the right staff for roles in a business

Development

the process of developing and improving the skills abilities and knowledge of staff, through induction, ongoing training and further professional development.

Maintenance

the process of managing the needs of staff for health and safety, industrial relations and legal responsibilities, including compensation and benefits, of all staff.

Separation

is the process of employees leaving voluntarily, or through dismissal or retrenchment processes.

Recruitment

the process of locating and attracting the right quantity and quality of staff to apply for employment vacancies or anticipated vacancies at the right cost.

Employee selection

involves gathering information about each applicant and using that information to chose the most appropriate applicant.

Placement

involves locating the employee in a position that utilises the skills of the individual to meet the needs of the business.

Job enlargement

involves increasing the breadth of tasks in a job

Job rotation

involves moving staff from one task to another over a period of time in order to multiskill employees

Job enrichment

involves increasing the responsibilities of a staff member

Job sharing

occurs when two people share the same job

Performance appraisal

is a process of assessing the performance of an employee, generally against a set of criteria or standards

Fringe benefit tax (FBT)

is a tax employers must pay on certain benefits they provide to their employees or their employees' associates, such as a family member. It is based on the taxable value of the various fringe benefits provided.

Workplace bullying

is a form of harassment involving unwelcome and uninvited behaviour that is offensive to 'reasonable' people. The more noticeable forms of workplace bullying are intimidation, humiliation, verbal abuse, pushing , touching, fondling or threatened and actual acts of violence.

Redundancy and retrenchment

refer to employees losing their jobs, where the employees' job or work no longer needs to be done. It may be necessary due to to the lack of work, as in the case of a fall in demand for a product or service, or the position may have been restructured or replaced by technology.

Unfair dismissal

occurs where an employee is dismissed by their employer and they believe the action is harsh, unreasonable or unjust.

Leadership style

refers to ways that managers communicate with their employees to inspire and motivate them to work together to achieve an organisation's goals.

360-degree

appraisals are where performance feedback is sought from stakeholders as a means of improving business and individual performance

Job design

is the number, kind and variety of tasks that a worker is expected to carry out in the course of performing their job.

Internal recruitment

involves filling job vacancies with people from within the business

External recruitment

involves filing job vacancies with people from outside the business.

General skills

include flexibility and versatility, social confidence, positive attitude, motivation and the ability to work as a team and/or independently

Specific skills

are highly specialised and are required for some jobs within science, technology and engineering sectors.

Employee poaching

is the practice of enticing employees to work for another business

Training

aims to develop skills, knowledge and attitudes that lead to superior work performance

Insourcing

refers to delegating a job to someone within the business, as opposed to someone outside the business

Performance management

addresses both individual and business performance. Successful individual performance will often translate into the business's strategic objectives being met.

Performance management (developmental)

model improves individual performance through establishing objectives such as reaching sales targets that are constant with achieving the organisation's goals.

Performance management (administrative)

model assesses the progress of the business in meeting its strategic goals and where necessary identifying the areas for improvement, such as establishing new goals or employee performance.

Monetary rewards

are those reflected in pay or having financial value

Non-monetary rewards

are those that do not have a financial value such as social activities or retirement planning.

Remuneration

refers to both the financial (eg pay) and non-financial (eg. career security) benefits that employees receive in return for their work effort.

Gain-sharing plan

involves the benefits of improvements and success, such as productivity improvements, cost savings and sales and profit increases, being reflected in rewards for teams, such as shares, cash bonuses or annual bonuses

Performance pay

refers to remuneration that is based on distributing rewards according to individual employee performance

Subsidiary

is a company that is owned by another company (referred to as the parent) and is often located in another country.

Temporary work (skilled) visa

a type of work permit that allows skilled migrants to come to Australia and work for an approved business that sponsors them for a period of 4 years. It applies to occupations where Australian workers cannot be found. Australian's near neighbours such as the Pacific Islands and China, are keen to supply labour to Australian businesses, but the reluctance of trade unions to support such an initiative is still seen as a stumbling block to its successful implementation

Industrial dispute

a disagreement over an issue or group of issues between an employer an its employees, which results in employees ceasing work.

Strikes

refer to situations in which workers withdraw their labour

Lockouts

occur when employers close the entrance to a workplace and refuse the admission to the workers

Pickets

are protests that take place outside the workplace, generally associated with a strike. Unionists stop the delivery of goods and try to stop the entry of non-union labour into the workplace.

In good faith

means the parties meet regularly with a willingness to reach an agreement

Negotiation

is a method of resolving disputes with discussions between the parties result in a compromise and a formal or informal agreement

Mediation

is the confidential discussion of issues in a non-threatening environment, in the presence of a neutral, objective third party.

Grievance procedures

are formal procedures, generally written into an award or agreement, that state agreed processes to resolve disputes in the workplace.

Orders

are decisions that require employees or employers to carry out a direction from the tribunal. They may be inserted in awards or agreements.

Indicators

are performance measures that are used to evaluate organisational or individual effectiveness

Benchmarking

is a process in which indicators are used to compare business performance between internal sections of a business or between businesses.

Human resource audit

is a diagnostic tool used to evaluate HR policies and practices in order to identify problems and develop solutions in an attempt to rectify problems.

Corporate (business/workplace) culture

refers tot he values, ideas, and beliefs shared by members of the business

Informal benchmarking

includes ay strategies such as networking through informal discussions with colleagues in other businesses, undertaking visits to other businesses, researching best practice online and attending conferences.

Performance benchmarking

involves comparing the performance levels of a process/activity with other businesses

Best practice benchmarking

involves comparing performance levels with those of another best practice business in specific areas using a structured process to gain skills and knowledge and to modify organisational processes.

Balanced scorecard benchmarking

is used for measuring whether the activities of a business are meeting its objectives established in the strategic plan. It benchmarks key performance variables with targets aligned with the strategic plan

Staff turnover

refers to the loss of employees by a business who leave for a variety of reasons.

Absenteeism

refers to a worker who neglects to turn up for work when they were scheduled to do so