Are you thinking about hiring staff to cover the busy holiday period? Here’s grab bag of great ideas from business.gov.au to help make your hiring process go smoothly.
1. Understand the steps to hiring an employee
There are many steps to consider when hiring staff and it’s important to understand the legal obligations. These include working out the correct employee payments, tax, superannuation, and record keeping.
Click here for a checklist and explanations
2. Decide on the employment type
When hiring for the upcoming busy period, consider the differences between hiring casuals and fixed-term employees. Both may be suitable as temporary staffing options.
Casual staff have no guarantee of regular work hours, snd while they offer greater resourcing flexibility, keep in mind casuals are entitled to say ‘no’ when offered shifts.
On the other hand, fixed-term employees have guaranteed hours for a certain period of time. They can be more of a resourcing commitment, but may offer more stability.
3. Start the hiring process early
With the holiday period just around the corner, it’s important to begin the hiring process as soon as possible. This will allow for easier onboarding and training while business is quieter.
Think about other time savers, such as:
* Documenting the processes in a manual for new starters
* organising interviews so they are all held on the same day, or hold group interviews, and
* Sharing rosters with staff early, to double-check staff availability for important dates – this will reduce the need to change rosters later.
4. Advertise your value
It’s important to let people know why your business is a great place to work.
Highlight what skill opportunities, support and perks are offered to employees in the advertisement. Use social media to reach out to networks and spread the word about your value. With staffing shortages across Australia, this will help the advertisement stand out.
5. Create an employment contract
An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and employee. It can be in writing or verbal, but a written contract will communicate an employee’s pay and conditions clearly from the start, which can help protect a business in the long term.
Business.gov.au has a free Employment Contract Tool which can help build an employment contract for an employee under Australia’s Fair Work system.
There’s a wealth of information on hiring available from the Aus Government. Log on to business.gov.au to take advantage of an excellent resource and prepare for the Spring and Summer rush.