It is not a legal requirement to have written employment contracts, as the law recognises both written and verbal contracts. However, we know from experience that having a well drafted employment contract relevant to your business should be at the top of your “to do” list.

In addition to the basic information, an Employment Contract should set out very clearly the role description, conditions of employment, any probation period, hours of work, pay, leave entitlements, confidentiality obligations, possible restraint of trade, grounds for termination and so on.

Within any business you will have need for more than one type of Employment Contract. We see so many butchered DIY employment contracts, which have often been sourced from the internet, and are very wrong for the position they’re meant to be covering.

In the event of a dispute, the parties will look to the Employment Contract first, so it pays to have a good one. If there’s no Employment Contract, you may be left trying to prove your version of events is the one to believe.

All employees should attend induction training to become familiar with the workplace and any workplace health and safety issues. A carefully developed induction training process can protect your business from risks including health, safety & environmental issues, discrimination and unfair dismissal claims.

The real key is to ensure that you keep written records and have employees sign off on every aspect of their training once it is complete. It is very hard for an employee to argue they didn’t know something when they have specifically signed off on that training. Signed records aren’t going to absolve you of all responsibility, but they will go a long way towards defending any claims where the employee has not followed their training.

Obviously different industries are going to have different manuals for different jobs. What we are referring to here is a generic business manual which sets out your particular business vision, values, mission statement, your expectations of your employees (for example, attendance, use of mobile phones during work hours, meal & smoking breaks), leave policies (e.g. when can employees take annual leave, when can you insist on a medical certificate etc), your behaviour expectations (e.g. what constitutes acceptable behaviour, what constitutes serious misconduct and is grounds for termination of employment), sexual harassment policies & workplace health & safety policies, just to name a few. In this technological day and age, it’s even a good idea to have a social media policy for your staff to follow – what they do and don’t post on Facebook about their job or fellow employees, and when they post it, are all things to consider.

In some businesses, it is prudent to have a separate and thorough Workplace Health & Safety Manual, and whether or not that’s necessary depends on the type of work your employees are undertaking. One thing should be consistent amongst employers, and that is that every employee should know what to do if there’s an incident or injury, who they report to, and what steps to take.

Having Workcover insurance is of course a legal necessity, but there any many other steps you can take in your business to minimise your risk and liability.

This is where getting good legal advice can really help. We know that happy employees and effective performance management creates a harmonious and productive workplace, which in turn enhances the value of your business and the bottom line.

If you have an underperforming employee, or you have an employee who is overstepping the boundaries, best practice dictates that meetings should be held and employees should be given warnings in writing before any steps are taken to end their employment.

The Fair Work Commission has repeatedly taken the position that employees should be given a chance to fix any performance issues before they are fired. You might like to consider a series of precedents for your business including written warnings, letters dealing with underperformance, a template for records of meetings with employees, annual performance reviews and of course, a letter of termination. If a meeting with an employee involves a risk of their employment being terminated, you should consider allowing them to have a support person accompany them to the meeting.