Daily Bulletin

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Changes to Long Service Leave

  • Written by Melissa Fanous


Victoria’s Long Service Leave Changes Explained.

Victoria’s new Long Service Leave Act 2018 comes into effect on 1 November 2018, and businesses that operate in Victoria will need to prepare for the significant changes to employee entitlements.

 

Senior Employment Adviser Natalie Clark, says the updated legislation will impact the Long Service Leave entitlements of all Victorian employees who were previously covered by the Long Service Leave Act 1992 and, “also applies to companies who may be based outside Victoria, but have staff employed in Victoria.”

 

What You Need to Know.

 

Clark summarises the key changes:

 

  • Employees will be able to request Long Service Leave after seven years of continuous service with an employer (previously it was 10 years)

  • Full-time, part-time, casual and seasonal employees are entitled to long service leave, provided they have completed the required amount of continuous service

  • Continuous service covers employer authorised absences on paid and unpaid leave, including parental leave (up to 52 weeks) also counting toward the period of employment for accrual purposes. Parental leave taken beyond 52 weeks will not count as service but will not break continuity of employment

  • Employees are allowed to take single day periods of long service leave, however no less than a full day can be requested at a time

  • An employer and an employee may agree to taking long service leave in advance prior to seven years of continuous employment

  • Employers cannot refuse an employee’s request to take long service leave unless it is on reasonable business grounds

  • Long service leave is calculated on the employee’s normal weekly hours at their “ordinary time rate of pay” on the day long service leave starts

  • It is an offence under the Act to make a payment in lieu of long service leave, except where the payment is made on termination (as above) or in accordance with the relevant fair work instrument

  • Employers must keep records relating to long service leave for at least seven years after the employment ceases

 

What You Need to Do.

 

The new Act is effective from 1 November 2018, and breaches can carry severe civil penalties.

 

According to Clark, “It’s important that you update your payroll systems to make sure that long service leave entitlements are being correctly calculated and administered. Also ensure that all your relevant policies and procedures are reviewed and updated to reflect these changes.”

 

Victorian employers and businesses should have their policies and documentation reviewed by an expert to ensure their business is compliant,” she said.

5 Tips for building long-term relationships with your customers

  • Written by Rachel Stevenson


Building long term relationships with your customers is crucial to any businesses survival. Not only will these relationships ensure ongoing success, they will provide stability within your business, which is key to longevity.

Crucially, a business is only as good as its clients, and as such developing these relationships needs to be top of your agenda.

Here we share our top tips for both developing and keeping important working relationships:

Be trustworthy: It goes without saying, but trust in any relationships is key. When customers trust in you and your business, they’ll keep using your services again and again, as well as recommending you to others. No long-term relationship can survive without trust as a foundation, so ensuring that you’re consistently honest and transparent will go a long way to helping you cultivate the type of relationships with your customers that your business depends on.

Understand you clients’ needs and business: Knowing your customers business and needs as well (if not better), than your own is imperative to success. By knowing fully what a client wants from you, you’ll be able to service their needs in a way that adds real value to their business, which is the name of the game when it comes to building and keeping excellent customer relationships.

Communication: As with trust, communication is key to keeping a working relationship alive and thriving. Make sure that the lines of communication are always open between you and your customers, allowing them to constantly feed back to you on any concerns, changes or requests. Constantly communicating with your customers will help with building trust, as well as improving overall customer satisfaction.

Provide value: Customers will always be looking to see if you are providing value to both them and their business. It’s therefore crucial to always be adding value to clients, whether this is through offering additional services, or other things that you recognise are going to help them out. It’s important to look at each client individually to determine what will be valuable to them and deliver on this to create strong relationships.

Continuously improve customer experience: To do this, ask for feedback, and implement changes based off of this feedback. As your customers, they really know what you need to be doing to improve. By continuously striving to improve the customer experience, clients will feel valued and heard, in turn cultivating the longer-term relationships you want for your business.

Citrus Group Co-Founder, Paul Smith co-pioneered Australia’s first ever specialised call centre recruitment agency in 1996. Citrus prides itself on spearheading the transformation that the industry is undergoing currently with many clients transitioning from off shore to locally based contact centres. The company offers efficient and effective talent sourcing, facilitates flexible workplace arrangements, and ensures strong staff retention. www.citrusgroup.com.au

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