Preventing common problems

An employment relationship problem can be anything that harms, or may harm, an employment relationship. While the most obvious relationship is between employer and employees, other examples are relationships among employees, between a union and its members, between a union and an employer, and among unions covering employees in the same workplace.

Employer’s viewpoint

Examples of problems you may encounter with employees include:

Poor performance
Unacceptable behaviour
Lateness and absenteeism
Long-term illnesses
Failure to comply with health and safety procedures
Breaches of company policy or the law
Misconduct
Conflict between employees.

Employee’s viewpoint

Problems from an employee’s perspective can include:

Discrimination, harassment or bullying in the workplace
Disagreement about whether a warning should be issued
Problems with health and safety
Disagreement about what a term in an employment agreement means
Misunderstood or poorly managed discipline, dismissal, redundancy or restructuring processes
Disputes over holidays, pay, or deductions from pay.

Preventing problems

Clarify your expectations

Often the best way to solve problems is to prevent them happening in the first place. There are three documents where you can clarify what you require and expect from employees:

Job description. At the recruitment stage, the job description should spell out as clearly as possible what duties you want the employee to perform, the skills and experience you require, who the employee will be reporting to, and the major job objectives. If the employee starts with a clear idea of what the job involves and what you expect from them then there are likely to be fewer problems later.
Work rules. Many businesses also have “Work Rules” or a ”Policy and Procedures” document to ensure certain standards are maintained. It’s a good idea to show a copy of your work rules to the employee before you negotiate the employment agreement.
For example, you may expect employees to be punctual, to comply with a dress code, or to always wear a name tag. You may also prohibit staff from removing any stock from the premises without your express permission.

You can cover issues such as:
- Use of company computers for personal emails or web browsing
- Health and safety requirements, such as compulsory wearing of hard hats in certain areas
- Drug and alcohol consumption
- Zero-tolerance of harassment, bullying or discrimination.
Make sure all your employees have a copy of the business rules and know who to contact first, yourself or a designated staff member, if they have problems with any of the above.
Employment agreement. This is where you negotiate terms with the employee, set out rates of pay and hours of work. For example, if you expect the employee to work on public holidays then set this out clearly.

Remember to update all of these documents as situations change.

Treat staff consistently

It’s important to treat staff consistently and without discrimination or favouritism. Being firm but fair helps everyone understand they will be treated equally. For example, if an employee is allowed to get away with repeatedly being late for work, then other employees may feel their punctuality is not valued and this can have a damaging effect on morale.

Identify common problems

A number of staff in the same workplace may experience or feel the same problem. If so, it can help to deal with the problems collectively and to look for a solution that works for everyone.

Union help

If employees are union members, their union can play an important part in representing their collective interests and agreeing on a solution. Agreeing on one solution that covers all union members can be a time saver.

Mediation services

If you can’t resolve the problem directly with the employee or the union concerned, then contact the Department of Labour’s mediation services for help.