LinkedIn Profiles - Who owns your Business Contacts when you change jobs?

One of the most popular social media sites for business employees to access is LinkedIn.  Facebook is also used for business purposes, but by a much smaller percentage of employees. LinkedIn is the most developed and easy to use site for business and career networking, and is fast becoming one of the most important resources for people to network in their industry, find new jobs and opportunities, while also building their reputations.

A LinkedIn profile has a list of business contacts, which can include a wide variety of connections - including customers, personal friends, previous workmates and school friends. A key question that is now often asked, is, who owns the list of business contacts?

LinkedIn users have a single LinkedIn profile, which they generally use for both personal and professional purposes and which they update as they move roles and employers. A recent social media study found 46% of employees use LinkedIn for both business and personal purposes.   Often employees are using their contacts and ability to generate connections to enhance not only themselves, but also the company for which they are employed.  Hence, employers can potentially have a strong vested interest in a successfully built and established LinkedIn account. However, businesses need to be able to protect the information held on LinkedIn [or other social media sites] to avoid employees using it inappropriately outside work or after their employment ends.

Information held on an internal business database, or a business mobile phone, usually belongs to the employer. However, the legal opinion with regards to who owns a network of contacts on LinkedIn is still not clear. A large part of the information on a LinkedIn account is uniquely the employees’, but an employer can limit the use of that LinkedIn account information in a post-employment scenario by incorporating a  non-compete agreement that includes social media considerations.

Employers should also address the potential difficulties over ownership and management of contacts on all social media sites by specific provisions in employment contracts and an up to date social media policy. It is recommended that employment contracts should specify that the employer regards contacts established during employment on sites such as LinkedIn as being part of its business connections and thus confidential information which the employer owns.

The key to avoiding litigation after an employee leaves a job is training and communication while they’re on the job.

Hiring Wisdom: Top 10 Ways to Guarantee Your Best People Will Quit

Do you have an up to date Retention Program for you staff? 
What about your staff induction program - is it conveying the right message to your new staff members? 
If you want to retain your best staff, these are things to consider. 
For more, read this article from TLNT :
http://www.tlnt.com/2013/04/08/hiring-wisdom-top-10-ways-to-guarantee-your-best-people-will-quit/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=linkedin&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tlnt+%28TLNT%3A+The+Business+of+HR%29

Bullying and Harassment

Many workers will these days experience workplace harassment – behaviours such as:

• verbal abuse
• assault
• spreading rumours about someone
• constant name calling
• practical jokes
• sexual harassment

Bullying and harassment can also be more subtle and include behaviours such as:

• constant unjustified criticism or complaints
• constant threats to sack or demote
• excluding someone from workplace activities
• inconsistent and arbitrary enforcement of rules
• setting unreasonable timelines
• deliberately changing work arrangements in order to inconvenience someone
• setting tasks that are unreasonable
• excessive scrutiny of work performance
• withholding information or tools required to perform work
• taking credit for another employees work and failing to acknowledge that employee.

 Bullying is generally defined as repeated unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety. It is irrelevant whether the person bullying and harassing you intended to do so.

Studies indicate that less than one in 10 victims of workplace harassment speak or confront the person inflicting the unwanted behaviour to simply say that they don’t like the behaviour and request that it stops.

Workplace bullying can be toxic to a business causing high staff turnover, absenteeism, low morale and re­duced productivity. It also exposes an employer to wider finan­cial burdens including the possibili­ty of workers’ compensation claims, legal action or substantial fines for breaches of workplace health and safety legislative obligations.

Workplace health and safety law states that an employer has an obligation to, as far as practicable, provide employees with a working environment that is safe and free from risks to the worker’s health.  Workplace bullying and harassment is not consistent with a safe working environment or a working environment that is free from risk.

 If you are aware of bullying in your workplace, or are a victim of bullying or harassment, there are several strategies recommended by experts to deal with the workplace harassment and bullying behaviour.

-Speak to the Bully and advise that the Behaviour is Unwelcome

In the first instance, it is always suggested that you should first try to address the behaviour with the bully directly, particularly if it's a more subtle form of bullying such snide, inappropriate or sarcastic comments; let them know that it is not professional, is unwelcome and not appreciated.  

However, if the bullying is more serious or the bully has ignored previous requests to cease, then it is time to discuss/report the matter with a line manager.

-Report the Misconduct

A victim of workplace bullying or harassment should report the misconduct to their supervisor and/or to the human resources department/representative, if available in your workplace. It is  better if the complaint is in writing as this will be easier to use as evidence should the need arise.  When writing a complaint stick to the key points and keep the complaint concise.  Ten well thought out points can often be more effective that ten pages of writing.

-Document the Behaviour

From the start of the unwelcome behaviour, or as soon as possible afterwards, the victim should document the behaviour, noting the date, time and place it occurred, and if anyone else was present as a witness, along with a transcript of the interaction. If matters continue to escalate, written documentation will be the most important thing the employee has to protect them self and their job.

-Be Informed

Become familiar with your Employer’s workplace policies and your own Employment Contract. Find out if your company has official HR and complaint policies, and familiarize yourself with these.

-Take Care of Your Health and Seek Medical Attention

Should the matter proceed as far as the Courts, you may need to demonstrate the effects of the alleged bullying, whether it be emotional damage or physical manifestations of stress.  The employee can obtain medical attention as evidence of this.

 If you are an employer, to prevent bullying and protect yourself and your staff, there are several recommended actions.  Where practicable, you should seek to implement measures which reduce or eliminate the possibility of workplace bullying and associated harm, and take proac­tive approaches to reduce the risk of bullying. Possible action you could take would include pre-emptive assessments of possible bullying risk factors in the work­place, development of a formal workplace bullying policy and for­mal procedures to address a work­place bullying complaint. 

Your response to bullying

In the event of a claim of bullying by a co-worker, an employer should in the first instance seek to act accord­ing to an established company bully­ing or Workplace Health and Safe­ty procedure. If no formal procedure is developed, state legislation may re­quire the employer follow a default procedure as identified in state occupational health and safety legisla­tion.

There are basic principles an employer should seek to adhere to, being, firstly that each complaint should be taken seriously and action should be prompt. Sec­ondly the employer should approach the situation with neutrality, provide support and ensure fairness of process for all parties involved. Doc­umentation and communication with parties is also essential, howev­er an employer should ensure confi­dentiality, especially where request­ed by the accuser.

To minimize your risk as an employer, you should consider developing proactive bullying and harassment policies that will ensure that your workforce is safe, engaged and productive. Contact Annette at End2End Business Solutions on (02) 8977 4002 for advice on establishing workplace policies for your business.

Contractor or Employee? Tips for Employing Contractors

Engaging contingent labour purely to save costs is fraught with risks, so employers should ensure they use contractors for the "right" reasons, and take adequate steps to protect themselves against potential claims. For some employers, they can face a significant risk of being deemed the "employer" of a contractor if care is not exercised.  

 

Of concern to many businesses is being found liable for entitlements associated with employment, including annual leave, superannuation and personal leave, along with exposure to unfair dismissal laws, and longer notice periods.
It doesn't matter whether your business has explicitly engaged a worker as a contractor, the law will disregard that if the nature of the relationship otherwise bears the features of an employment relationship.

To minimise risks in this area it is recommended  to ensure that contractors are engaged "for the right reasons. One of the "wrong" reasons is to save on rates of pay, a common example of this is the engagement of contract cleaners. Contract cleaners have specific minimum rates of pay under applicable modern awards . There have been businesses found attempting to save money by engaging their cleaners as contractors, so as to avoid the minimum hourly rates of pay under awards. 

Another “wrong” reason is simply because ‘that's what the worker wants’. It can be attractive from a taxation view to be engaged as a contractor, as opposed to an employee, but a worker who at the commencement of a relationship requests to be regarded as a contractor, may change their mind at a later date and  attempt to subsequently claim the entitlements associated with permanent employment.

Employers should always record the nature of engagement in a ‘solid’ contract that sets out and provides evidence in relation to why it is a contractor arrangement as opposed to any other sort of arrangement, and details of how the contract came about.

Another critical mistake that businesses can make in written contracts is to use the word 'employment' or 'employ' when they're talking about someone who they've deemed to be a contractor. A business that engages contract labour is not an ‘employer’; they are a ‘principal’. Someone who works under those arrangements is ‘engaged’, not ‘employed’, and not an ‘employee’;  they are a ‘contractor’.  Inadvertent use of the wrong terminology can cause issues should the matter be investigated.

Further tips for minimising liability include:

• Avoid giving contractors entitlements associated with an employment relationship such as 4 weeks annual paid leave. This is an employment entitlements and can cause the relationship to look like an employment relationship.
• Try to avoid specifying an hourly rate, as being paid an hourly rate is regarded to be consistent with being an employee
• Avoid long-term arrangements, as when an arrangement continues for several years, and that work is of a sort that you would get from an employee then you could wind up with the types of liabilities associated with employment
• Always review the arrangement on a regular basis – there is no ‘set’  amount of time when a contracting arrangement should be reviewed, but reviews should take place.

Managing High employee sick leave

Real Life Case Study - Managing High Employee Sick Leave

In our latest December newsletter we were excited to add a new section -  a real life case study of an End2end Business Solutions success story.

Managing High employee sick leave

I am currently working with a client who has an employee who is constantly taking sick leave and obtaining doctors certificates.  The employee is part of an administrative team who all share the business' administrative tasks.  In addition to having high sick leave, the employee isn’t a team player, only completes the bare minimum of work and the work is of poor quality.  Left unchecked, this has caused angst and low morale with the other workers.    Initially I thought this was a training issue, however, I decided to investigate the sick leave records to determine if I could find a pattern.   Sure enough, this part-time employee would fall sick on the last 2 days of a period, often just before long weekends or end of month when it was busy, creating a week's leave regularly for themselves. 

My next step was to organise a meeting with the employee to present my findings and gain input from them on how this situation could be satisfactorily resolved, with the ultimate aim of the employee taking ownership of the medical condition instead of making it a problem for the employer.   In this meeting I found that the employee needed to work, but was not completely happy in this job. 

The solution has been that the employee will be returning to the doctor to have the medical condition managed properly and action taken.  The worker is also working to make up for time lost and help their fellow team members.  The final step will be to get the employee feeling engaged as part of the team and not as though it is a chore to be at the employer.   Regular communication with this employee has helped in letting the employee know that someone is aware and is ready to help. 

As an employer, don’t leave high sick leave unchecked, there may not always be a pattern, however, it is important to address it with the employee by offering to help solve the issue they may have, and getting the employee to take ownership of the problem.   If it is an attitude problem that is causing the high absence level, work to find out what the underlying issue is and take steps to re-engage the employee.
 

8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees

Are you looking for remarkable employees? What qualities should you be looking for to find the employee who will go the extra mile? We liked this article by Jeff Haden:

8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees, Jeff Haden

Forget good to great. Here's what makes a great employee remarkable.

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Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders and great followers... they possess a wide range of easily-defined—but hard to find—qualities.

A few hit the next level. Some employees are remarkable, possessing qualities that may not appear on performance appraisals but nonetheless make a major impact on performance.

Here are eight qualities of remarkable employees:
1. They ignore job descriptions. The smaller the company, the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done.
When a key customer's project is in jeopardy, remarkable employees know without being told there's a problem and jump in without being asked—even if it's not their job.
2. They’re eccentric... The best employees are often a little different: quirky, sometimes irreverent, even delighted to be unusual. They seem slightly odd, but in a really good way. Unusual personalities shake things up, make work more fun, and transform a plain-vanilla group into a team with flair and flavor.
People who aren't afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas.
3. But they know when to dial it back. An unusual personality is a lot of fun... until it isn't. When a major challenge pops up or a situation gets stressful, the best employees stop expressing their individuality and fit seamlessly into the team.
Remarkable employees know when to play and when to be serious; when to be irreverent and when to conform; and when to challenge and when to back off. It’s a tough balance to strike, but a rare few can walk that fine line with ease.
4. They publicly praise... Praise from a boss feels good. Praise from a peer feels awesome, especially when you look up to that person.
Remarkable employees recognize the contributions of others, especially in group settings where the impact of their words is even greater.
5. And they privately complain. We all want employees to bring issues forward, but some problems are better handled in private. Great employees often get more latitude to bring up controversial subjects in a group setting because their performance allows greater freedom.
Remarkable employees come to you before or after a meeting to discuss a sensitive issue, knowing that bringing it up in a group setting could set off a firestorm.
6. They speak when others won’t. Some employees are hesitant to speak up in meetings. Some are even hesitant to speak up privately.
An employee once asked me a question about potential layoffs. After the meeting I said to him, “Why did you ask about that? You already know what's going on.” He said, “I do, but a lot of other people don't, and they're afraid to ask. I thought it would help if they heard the answer from you.”
Remarkable employees have an innate feel for the issues and concerns of those around them, and step up to ask questions or raise important issues when others hesitate.
7. They like to prove others wrong. Self-motivation often springs from a desire to show that doubters are wrong. The kid without a college degree or the woman who was told she didn't have leadership potential often possess a burning desire to prove other people wrong.
Education, intelligence, talent, and skill are important, but drive is critical. Remarkable employees are driven by something deeper and more personal than just the desire to do a good job.
8. They’re always fiddling. Some people are rarely satisfied (I mean that in a good way) and are constantly tinkering with something: Reworking a timeline, adjusting a process, tweaking a workflow.
Great employees follow processes. Remarkable employees find ways to make those processes even better, not only because they are expected to… but because they just can't help it.

from:http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-8-qualities-of-remarkable-employees.html?nav=next