Before commencing employment, it is important to be aware not only of your personal rights and responsibilities, but also of the rights and responsibilities of your employer. Staying informed of these important considerations can help avoid legal disputes arising later in the course of your employment. All employees should be aware of important employment factors including work dismissal laws, discrimination in the workplace, occupational health and safety obligations and workers compensation.
General responsibilities and entitlements
There are general rules about what general entitlements employees receive at work. This may include what hours you work and how often you are able to have to have a break. These rules can be set out in different ways, such as through an award, registered agreement or an employment contract. It is important to understand your general entitlements and responsibilities under your specific contract or other agreement before commencing work. It may be useful to review employment contracts with a lawyer, in order to ensure that you fully understand both your responsibilities and entitlements and are happy to agree to the terms your employer has set.
Discrimination
You have the right to be protected against discrimination based on a disability, your gender or any other factor in the workplace. In turn, you have a responsibility to refrain from engaging in any act or form of discrimination in the workplace.
Examples of discrimination in the workplace may include
- insulting or humiliating comments or action about disability
- insulting or humiliating comments or action about gender
- abusive behaviour toward employees with disability
If you have a disability, you also have the right to workplace modifications in order to minimise the impact of your disability in the workplace. Discrimination is a serious, prevalent and sadly often overlooked issue in the workplace. If you believe that you may be a victim of workplace discrimination, it is important to seek the advice of a lawyer.
Occupational health and safety
Every employee has the right to work in a safe and healthy workplace. Preventing work related injuries and illness is an important role held by both employers and employees.
Your employer has a duty of care to provide and maintain as far as practicable, a safe working environment. This duty of care involves;
- protecting you from physical hazards and other workplace hazards (for example workplace bullying)
- providing and maintaining workplaces to avoid exposure to hazards;
- providing information about the hazards and risks from your job;
- providing you with instruction, training and supervision so you are able to work safely;
- consulting and cooperating with safety and health representatives
- providing adequate personal protective clothing and equipment without any cost to you
In turn, all employees have a responsibility to;
- ensure their own safety and health;
- make sure their actions do not cause injury or harm to others
- ask for assistance if they do not understand the information
- follow your employer’s instructions on safety.
Workers compensation
Employers must take out workers compensation insurance for all employees by law, providing financial protection for you in the event of workplace-related injury or disease. In the event of workplace injury, your employer has specific obligations towards your ability to apply for and receive compensation and to help in the process involved in you returning to work. If you are injured at work, it is important to speak to a lawyer regarding all of your avenues for compensation and to ensure the protection of your rights.
Unreasonable dismissal
All employees have a right to be terminated from their employment, only upon reasonable grounds. When determining whether a dismissal was unreasonable, the following factors will be taken into account;
- whether there was a valid reason for the dismissal
- whether the person was given an opportunity to respond to the reason after being notified
- whether the person had been warned, if the dismissal related to unsatisfactory performance
- Whether the person could have been reasonably re-employed after being held redundant elsewhere within the company or an associated entity of the company.
A great deal of a person’s life is spent in the workforce, so it is important to have a firm understanding of your rights and responsibilities to your employee and fellow workers.
Bio: Laura Costello is in her third year of a Bachelor of Law/International Relations at Latrobe University. She is passionate about the law, the power of social media, and the ability to translate her knowledge of both common and complex legal topics to readers across a variety of mediums in a way that is easy to understand.
