The 2011 Federal Government Budget states that the public sector is expected to increase its workforce by more than 1000 jobs for jobs in the government and simultaneously hundreds of government workers will loose their jobs in the government by July 2012. The Federal Government hopes that this cost cutting will save more than $1bn in efficiencies.
The government has increased the public service efficiency dividend by half a per cent for the next two years and then 0.25 per cent over the following two years. In terms of actual staff numbers, the number of jobs in the government remains unchanged despite the cuts to jobs in the government.
The following are the major changes in the 2011 Federal Government Budget to jobs in the government for various government departments:
• The Education Department will cut 270 staff but concurrently 155 jobs in the government will be formed to sustain the new National Vocational Education and Training Regulator from July 1 2011.
• The consolidation of Centrelink and Medicare under the Human Services banner will mean losses of 1016 and 102 of jobs in the government, respectively.
• The Attorney-General’s Department will lose around 147 workers, Customs 90 jobs, and the Australian Crime Commission 23 jobs in the government.
• But the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation has the green light to hire an extra 45 staff for jobs in the government.
• Defence force numbers are set to increase by about 5 per cent in the coming year, although it will cut 1000 civilian jobs in the government.
There are many losers and very little winners in the 2011 Federal Government Budget. However there are still good opportunities for people looking for jobs in the government depending on which government department you would like to work for. The public sector still remains one of the most stable and secure organisation for people looking for jobs in the government.

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Article by NewEmployees clicks & Media

In an Australia-wide university competition, the University of Wollongong’s Careers Service was last night (13 November) announced the ‘Best Careers Service for Employers’.

The UOW Careers Service was short listed in the category, along with Swinburne and Deakin universities, before it was announced that UOW had taken out the top accolade at the Australian Graduate Recruitment Industry Awards.

Manager of the UOW Careers Service, Mr Martin Smith, praised the fantastic team behind him — including the Employer Programs Co-ordinator, Beth Hammersley, at the hub of the Service’s day-to-day activity — when accepting the award at the Sydney ceremony.

Mr Smith said the University encouraged its staff to engage with business and industry on a regional, national and international basis.

“We understand what employers value in potential graduates and this pervades all programs, services and resources. It ranges from the production of the job seeking resource, ‘The Edge’ to the provision of a suite of workplace learning programs designed to refine career choices and increase employability,” Mr Smith said.

He said the last 12 months had seen a ‘war for talent’ intensify which presented challenges for how UOW services its employer clients.

Some initiatives in 2007 included:

A function at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney to showcase UOW’s Innovation Campus and the student talent which the University is developing via its workplace learning activities. This enables key employers to develop a better understanding, before the start of the recruitment season, of how UOW’s graduates become work ready

A Careers Fair which included revamped marketing material. A post fair luncheon with relevant academics on hand to sit with graduate employers also proved to be valuable for educators and recruiters

Guest employer input in pod casts and a job seeking workshop series

 The ABC reported that “an estimated 2,500 unskilled workers from Tonga, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu were planned to take part in the Australian government program”. The pilot scheme called Pacific Seasonal Worker Scheme is turning out to be too costly for some employers to implement.

The trial part of the scheme was to last three years and commenced last year, the trial was to ascertain whether bringing these workers in to Australia would boost the economic development in Pacific nations. The scheme was also predicted to fill labour shortfalls in the Australian horticulture industries.

However, a local Queensland based contracting company who took part in the trial and took on around 30 Tongan workers to pick fruit said that he could not afford to recruit any more Pacific Workers. “If I was to employ Pacific Islander workers I would have to guarantee them a certain number of hours a week at a certain pay rate which is actually higher than what the pay rate guarantee for the average Australian worker is,” he said. Also stating “I’m having to charge my farmers and my clients more to use the Pacific islander program” which ultimately impacted his business.

Australia’s Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) have not released a comment yet whilst the National Farmers Federation (NFF) said that it also had some concerns about the results the trial was producing and will raise these concerns with the Australian government.

If you are looking for fruit picking workers or would like to do work along those lines then post a profile here. This is not a recruitment agency but an online meeting place for employers and employees – no more CV’s or applying for hundreds of jobs for the job seeker and no more paying recruitment agencies nor having to pay for advertisements in papers or online for the employer.

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To be eligible for potential employment opportunities with BeMyBoss.com.au you will need to post your job requests here. BeMyBoss is NOT a recruitment agency; we are a meeting place where employers and employees can meet directly without agencies, advertising and other costly means.

Leading specialist recruitment agency Hays reports the following companies as the most popular which employees are continually nominating as their preferred workplace;

• ANZ,
• Virgin,
• Government,
• Public sector,
• Telstra.

Hays reports: “Career opportunities, reputation of the company and the professional development and training offered were the top reasons supplied for choosing these employers, and were nominated ahead of salary or benefits. This demonstrates the value of creating a strong employment brand.”

“As candidate shortages continue, forward-looking employers are focusing on what needs to be done to attract talent,” said Jacky Carter, Director of Hays. “Like any consumer brand, an employment brand communicates your identity as a company to others. It isn’t just a statement you adopt because you think it sounds good; it’s the essence of what your company stands for. In association, it communicates to potential employees what it’s like to work for your company.”

“When an engineer considers future employers, a certain firm instantaneously comes to mind. When an accountant seeks a move, certain companies are approached before others. This is the power of employment branding and is a major differentiator in the recruitment marketplace.”

“But it’s clearly not just about the ‘logo’. Our survey demonstrates that what most of us perceive as important, i.e. the ‘look and feel’, is not what we should be primarily focused on. Rather, the message needs to be more complete – the culture, values and environment are of much greater interest to potential employees. All advertising, whether direct or ambient, is contributing to the perception of your organisation being built by potential employees,” she said.

“A compelling Employee Value Proposition is also an integral element of employment branding and the recruitment strategy. It sets out who the company is, what is expected from employees and what employees receive from working for the company. In short, it reveals what your company offers that employees value. This includes defining not just the salary or job responsibilities and opportunities, but the company’s culture and ambitions.”

“As skills shortages continue to test candidate sourcing and attraction strategies, and competition for the best possible staff remains high, it is no surprise the issue of employment branding continues to gain attention,” said Jacky.

The survey also found:

• A company’s reputation as an employer is important in a candidate’s decision to work for them in almost 9 out of 10 cases.
• 86 per cent would not work for a company with a bad employer reputation who offered a higher salary than a company with a good reputation.
• In determining a company’s reputation as an employer, 68 per cent of employees view treatment and support offered as ‘extremely important’. Also rated as ‘extremely important’ were the relationship between management and staff (65 per cent), training and development offered to employees (51 per cent) and quality of products or services (36 per cent).
• According to the survey, people judge a company’s potential as an employer primarily on their ‘fit’ with the company’s vision, culture and values, followed by the company’s products or service and experience received as a customer of the company.
• 61 per cent would not apply for a job with a company whose vision, values and culture they did not agree with.
• Cultural ‘fit’ with the company and its values was also the most important factor in helping candidates associate with the company they work for, closely followed by contributing to decision making and company direction.
• A company’s vision, culture and values is the most important factor in determining an employee’s ongoing perception of the company they work for.
• To maintain a company’s culture and brand with existing employees, communication, professional development & training, employee involvement, management style and a consistent image/vision require addressing.
• 31 per cent of employees would resign from a company that did not live up to what was promised in the recruitment process or marketing.
• 23 per cent would resign if the company did not adhere to stated company culture or branding.

Hays offer an element of caution – base your branding on truth. “This is one example where it really does need to ‘do what it says on the packet’,” said Jacky. “A danger lies in presenting a cool and hip brand to a young audience if that is not what your company, in reality, is all about. The employment experience – both during and after the hiring process – has to measure up to the employment brand, otherwise you over-promise and under-deliver, leading to higher turnover.”

Of 614 responses, the top-ten Australian most frequently named ideal employers were;
1. Government/public sector
2. ANZ
3. Virgin
4. Telstra
5. Westpac
6. IBM
7. Optus
8. Microsoft
9. Vodafone
10. PricewaterhouseCoopers

In a separate survey, Hays asked over 500 employers for their view on employment branding;

• 70 per cent viewed employment branding as important;
• 34 per cent of those said it was critical to their talent plans
• 36 per cent said it was something they’d like to get to soon
• 30 per cent of employers surveyed said employment branding was not on their agenda.

Source Article: Hays

Following on from yesterdays’ blog “EMPLOYERS MUST OFFER WORK / LIFE BALANCE” we bring you all the information you will need to know to ensure you are in align with the new r2r law enforcing work / life balance for employees.

Article by The Courier-Mail

What employees need to know about r2r

• Parents of children under school age or under 18 years with a disability can request more flexible work arrangements. Unions intend to campaign to extend this right to parents of school-aged children and carers for the elderly, sick and adults with disabilities.

• Casual and permanent employees with more than a year’s service are eligible to request family friendly hours, part-time work, working from home or special leave provisions.

• An eligible employee must make the request in writing to the employer, giving the reason for the desired change. The employer then must respond in writing within 21 days and can only reject a request on reasonable business grounds.

• Reasonable business grounds are not defined explicitly but legal precedents suggest relevant issues include the nature of the role, the impact on business operations and a cost-benefit analysis of business and worker.

Source: Aequus Partners lawyer Juliet Bourke. More info at ww.workplaceflexibility.com.au

What employers need to know about r2r

• Who is eligible? What can they request? Where do the boundaries lie? Learn more about the rules at www.workplaceflexibility.com.au.

• Develop or update your flexible work policy to incorporate reference to r2r requirements and prepare documents – request and approval/refusal forms – to help guide employees and managers. • Start with a can-do attitude. Encourage discussion and be transparent. Are there win-win alternatives? Could a trial period iron out concerns for both employee and boss?

• Provide managers with guidelines and training on the reasonable business grounds test so they are confident in dealing with requests.

• Review how your flexibility systems are working including impact on turnover by introducing tracking strategies to evaluate the consistency and quality of decision-making.

Source: Aequus Partners lawyer Juliet Bourke. More info at www.workplaceflexibility.com.au

To put yourself out there for employers who are currently looking for job seekers then register your profile here.

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Then register your profile here and search for job seekers who match what you are looking for without the middle-man.

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Article by The Courier-Mail

EMPLOYERS and their businesses run the risk of being “named and shamed” on social media sites if they fail to manage new workplace flexibility laws properly, a Brisbane workplace lawyer has warned.

Brad Petley, workplace relations and safety partner at Holman Webb, says employers who have not prepared for r2r – the right of workers to request flexible work practices – could suffer business brand and bottom line damage.

The r2r provisions came into effect on January 1 as part of the National Employment Standard under the Fair Work Act 2009.

While workers have always been able to request more flexible working hours or arrangements, what’s new about this law is that it makes it much harder for employers to refuse.

Employers face fines of up to $6600 for non-compliance and claims of discrimination or adverse treatment.

It’s an evolutionary step in employer-employee relationships, allowing millions of workers a genuine chance to capture that ever-elusive work-life balance.

But because the economic downturn dominated business attention throughout much of 2009, many bosses are neither prepared for r2r nor aware of its potential implications.

“Under the r2r, a request for flexibility must only be refused on reasonable business grounds,” says Juliet Bourke, workplace lawyer at Aequus Partners.

“Our research showed that the majority of managers lack confidence in their ability to implement this test.”

And though millions of mum and dad workers welcome the provisions, Petley says many people have unrealistic expectations.

“That’s because some reports in the media have been light on detail and seemed to indicate it was a carte blanche, that any flexible work arrangement is simply a matter of submitting an application,” he says.

“That’s not right.”

More than that, Petley warns that ill-founded r2r applications which are refused can cause disharmony in the workplace and even “naming and shaming” of businesses through the social media.

“I can see a disenchanted employee, who feel the refusal of their request is unreasonable, getting on Facebook or Twitter and saying their employer turned down their request,” Petley says.

“It has potential to be very damaging to the employer’s brand as well as his or her business.”

Petley says employers need to communicate to employees what their rights actually entail to prevent them relying on potentially inaccurate information from other sources.

Rather than creating hostility in the workplace, the intention of the new standard is to generate discussion between the parties and the Australian Council of Trade Unions says flexible working arrangements are a win-win situation.

“For workers, they help balance work and family, particularly for parents of pre-school age children during the pick-up and drop-off from childcare, and of children under-18 with a disability,” says an ACTU spokesman.

“Flexible working arrangements can also benefit businesses by increasing staff retention, reducing absenteeism, and achieving greater productivity through increased employee job satisfaction.”

Employees have the right to ask for changes like different starting or finishing times or working from home and employers have the right to refuse these requests but only on “reasonable business grounds”.

That includes an inability to organise work among existing staff or an adverse impact on efficiency, productivity or customer service.

Rather than simply refusing applications, Petley urges employers to come up with alternatives.

“I think some employers will simply see this as too hard,” he says.

“But employers need to abandon antiquated notions and remember that we work in progressive, modern workplaces now.

“It’s up to employers to recognise that employees have a life outside of work with relevant commitments.

“Employers commonly talk about how hard it is to recruit and retain good employees.

“This is one very effective means.”

More info at Fair Work Australia at www.fwa.gov.au or 1300 799 675 and Unions Australia on 1300 4 UNION.

Next blog will have details on WHAT EMPLOYERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT r2r

It looks like our gay Australians are finally getting the support they need and who better by than some of Australia’s highest profile employers!

BeMyBoss is a direct meeting place for employers and job seekers so if you are in either category and don’t ever want to do another CV again, or as an employer write another job ad or pay another agency for exorbitant fee’s then register a profile here and meet directly without the middle-man.

Excerpt from a well reknown news site

Good news is that Leading Australian companies have come out in support of a ground-breaking program which aims to make workplaces more responsive to the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.  

Called Pride in Diversity, the new program has been created by ACON – Australia’s largest community-based LGBT health organisation – in partnership with Diversity Council Australia, and London-based LGBT advocacy group Stonewall UK.

Officially launched earlier this week in Sydney by former High Court judge the Hon. Michael Kirby, the importance of the initiative has already been recognised by a broad range of leading Australian employers which have signed up as foundation members of the program. These include IBM, KPMG, ING Australia, Goldman Sachs JBWere, Lend Lease, the Department of Defence, the Australian Federal Police and Telstra.

Pride in Diversity director Dawn Hough said the program is Australia’s first employer support program for the inclusion of LGBT people and is all about helping Australian employers introduce HR and diversity policies that specifically support LGBT staff. “Research shows that up to 60% of LGBT people experience some form of harassment at work during their careers,” Hough said. “That’s four times the rate of the general population.”

Hough noted the treatment that many LGBT people experience in the workplace can range from negative comments through to open abuse from both management and colleagues. “This causes many LGBT people to feel uncomfortable in their workplace which can significantly impair their performance.”

Fear of abuse or discrimination forces many LGBT people to hide their sexual orientation or gender identity while they’re at work, leading to an increase in anxiety or depression. “It’s a very serious issue and employers across the board really need to be taking action to ensure they provide a sufficient duty of care,” Hough added.

ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill said that following the Australian Government’s recent same-sex law reforms it’s time for employers to fully support their LGBT staff. “Many companies throughout Australia have policies that support diversity in the areas of age, gender, cultural background and disability but hardly any have initiatives that support LGBT people. We’re grateful for the support of Pride in Diversity’s foundation members and look forward to other organisations coming on board to address this important issue in Australian workplaces.” 

Employers will also soon be able measure how inclusive their workplace is of LGBT staff with Pride in Diversity’s forthcoming Australian Workplace Equality Index. For more information, visit www.prideindiversity.com.au

It would seem that the largest employer group in Australia is pushing to cut the minimum-hours rule for retail workers and wants no restrictions to be place on the age of young workers entering the workplace, so long as that “employee agrees”.

Click here if you are currently in search of retail staff around Australia, we have hundreds of qualified people waiting to be contacted (this is not a recruitment agency site, you will be directly in touch with the job seeker – no more advertising, no more agencies and no more writing job ads). If you want to know more about how the site works and the costs then click here.

The intervention by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry precedes hearings in Fair Work Australia with one initial case listed for Thursday.

When the awards were being revised, the minimum hours in retail rose from two to three hours, this has led to the speculation that it was for this reason that many staff members were laid off.

ACCI and two other retail groups have stated that this is unacceptable and that this needs to be reduced for casual and part-time workers. They also cite that there should be a removal of all restrictions on minimum hours for school-aged workers “if the employee agrees” and the ”business circumstances require”.

Chief Executive of ACCI – Peter Anderson said that it was important that young people were not left of out employment opportunities due to inflexible hiring award rules. It comes after Opposition Leader Tony Abbott last week said there should be no minimum-hours rule for young workers.

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association national secretary Joe de Bruyn rejected the push. ”If there were no minimum starts for young people there would be exploitation galore in the retail and fast food industries,” he said.

”It would come at the expense of the employment of adults and other people who are more permanent in the workforce than schoolchildren are.”

Mr de Bruyn said there was ”no serious argument” from retailers about the minimum start rule until reports emerged of a hardware employer in Terang who said he had to lay off young staff as there was only 1½ hours’ work for them after school. But that employer, Mr de Bruyn said, was also breaching the award that existed under WorkChoices

Just what we always wanted, especially with potential jobs opportunities on the rise, we want to know who out there are the best employers to work for!

If you see an employer you like but have no idea how to be one of the first to be considered then check out our Look Like a Pro pages which will give advice, tips and templates so that you can make the ultimate profile / CV / presentation which will attract employers – and of course if you want to be seen by employers then you will naturally have to create a profile here and as soon as they’re looking to fill job roles that you want your name will appear in front of them.

The Western Australia division of CRS Australia announced the winners of its WA Employer Awards 2008 and eight employers were recognised at the 2008 awards. Six of them won for their creativity, innovation and willingness to enable CRS Australia job seekers to gain and maintain employment and two employers demonstrated workplace safety initiatives.

• Actlabs Pacific, Redcliffe
• Arrix, Osborne Park
• Distinctive Ceilings, Canning Vale
• Intiga Security Servcies, Hamilton Hill
• Main Roads WA
• Department of Agriculture and Food WA
• Navsec Security Training Services, Malaga
• Redlion Bus & Coach, Esperance

Direct Excerpt from CRS

CRS Australia is the country’s largest provider of vocational rehabilitation and assessment services to people with a disability, injury or health condition, and provider of injury prevention services to employers.

Each year thousands of employers, small and large, partner with CRS Australia to find motivated, hardworking staff to fit the business’s unique requirements and seek expert workplace safety services.

CRS Australia’s WA Employer Awards r

We know finding good job seekers can be hard, especially if you are in a specialised industry or work environment, and although BeMyBoss has certainly made it easier by being able to search for job seekers directly without the involvement of agencies or having to post job ads, we have come across another valuable resource available to all employers Australia wide.

BMB would like to promote the services of CRS who not only offer a valuable service to our community but they also go over and above to look after the job seeker and employer.

Excerpt from CRS

Two years ago, when Director of Morwell City Taxis, Carmen Giddens, interviewed over 35 job seekers and couldn’t find one suitable candidate, she decided that there must be a better way to find good staff. In addition, employee turnover was becoming an increasingly large cost to the small business.

Through word of mouth, Carmen heard about other employers’ successes in hiring people with disability, and approached CRS Australia to see what they could offer. Carmen was very impressed with the outcome.

‘In no time at all I found six suitable job seekers, who after a brief training program I was able to employ’, explains Carmen.

Carmen quickly realised that people with disability are not only well-suited to the taxi industry, but are skilled, motivated and consistently demonstrate a positive attitude and dedication to their job. In the last two years, Morwell City Taxis has employed 12 people with disability. 

Since actively recruiting people with disability, Morwell City Taxis has never looked back. For the first time in five years, the business has enough drivers to safely complete the roster and provide 24/7 service to the community. The business is also seeing a happier workplace culture, less absenteeism, high levels of employee retention, and a less stressed workforce.

Morwell City Taxis is just one of the many employers who understand that hiring people with disability is great for their business, as they bring a range of diverse skills, talent and abilities to the workplace.

International Day of People with Disability on Monday 3 December celebrates the abilities, contributions and achievements that people with disability make every day.

CRS Australia is a national provider of vocational rehabilitation services, assisting people with a disability, injury or health condition to find or keep a job. CRS Australia has over 170 offices throughout rural, regional and metropolitan Australia.

For more information about CRS Australia’s services call 1800 277 277 or visit www.crsaustralia.gov.au.