Start-ups have been urged to introduce flexibility in the workplace after a major new study found that nearly half of Australian employees are not compensated for the overtime hours they work.<\/p>\n
<\/span> <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Trade union body the ACTU surveyed 42,000 Australian workers and found that 61% work more hours than they are paid for, with 47% of this number not rewarded for their extra effort.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A further seven in 10 employees are contacted about their job outside work hours, while 58% haven\u2019t been properly reimbursed for work-related expenses.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe census also found that a third of workers see senior management as having no real understanding of their business, and no plan for the future,\u201d says Ged Kearney, president of the ACTU.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a disturbing finding. It suggests also that company managements are often ignoring some of the most innovative and creative people in their organisation, people who could help create productivity solutions: the workers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Martin Nally, founder of consultancy HR Anywhere, says that start-ups need to be flexible to avoid disenchanting overworked staff.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFlexibility is the new black when it comes to the workplace,\u201d he says. \u201cFair Work Australia has a flexibility provision, so if staff have young children, they can have flexible arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut the best businesses don\u2019t wait for legislation. They are already flexible. They realise the concept of \u2018face time\u2019, where you are judged on how long you\u2019re in the office, is a fallacy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about outcomes, rather than being a clock watcher. Allow staff to work remotely or outside the standard nine to five hours.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have to ask staff to work overtime, fine, but give them time off during a quieter time for your business. If people feel inequality, they\u2019ll leave. As soon as they have an opportunity, they\u2019ll be off.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Lisa Spiden, founder of Fibre HR, says that start-ups need to be careful when drawing up employment contracts for staff.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen employers pay more than the award, they need to put a flexibility agreement in the contract,\u201d she says. \u201cOtherwise you will just pay a higher rate of overtime pay.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNever allow staff to work overtime and not pay them, if they\u2019re on an award. Either pay them or allow them time off in lieu. Some employees like to work extra at the end of the day or during their lunchtime in order to get more money in their pocket. Don\u2019t allow them to. You can instruct them to go home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Start-ups have been urged to introduce flexibility in the workplace after a major new study found that nearly half of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40021"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}