Starting your own business is a great way to ensure that for the rest of your life, you will constantly need to be aware of the law and any changes that may be made to it. Just as with criminal charges, ignorance is no defence. However, there is so much to know that could feasibly have a massive impact on your business that it can seem a little overwhelming, especially at first. One good idea when your startup is still in its early stages is to speak to a lawyer about how best to organise your business so it conforms to the laws to which it will necessarily be subject. This may not sound like all that much fun, but your business being shut down and the threat of fines or prison time is way more miserable. To avoid that possibility, here are some major aspects of employment law of which you should be aware:

Maternity leave: everyone knows that an expectant mother is guaranteed maternity leave by law. It is a good thing that young parents are able to spend that time with their child because it allows them to bond and for the child’s development to progress in a healthy way. However, it can sometimes seem rather difficult from the employer’s perspective. Losing one your of workers is bad enough, but not having them for nearly an entire year is particularly difficult, especially if they are crucial to the running of your organisation. While it is not exactly the same as having an employee resign to take up another position elsewhere, the cost of finding someone to replace the employee on maternity leave can be incredibly expensive. A study conducted recently found that on average it costs six to nine months salary of a particular position to find someone new to fill it. In practice, this means that to replace a salaried manager who earns $40,000 a year, it would cost between $20,000 and $30,000. Either way, it is the law that you must allow your employees this time off. It is therefore important that you carefully consider the anatomy of a maternity leave policy. First, you will need to know way ahead of time if someone is planning to take maternity leave so this is something you should write into the policy. You should also codify when you expect the employee to return and how much you will pay them while they are on leave. The law states that eligible employees have a statutory right to 39 weeks of maternity pay, but that does not mean that you cannot be more generous if you wish. A lot of the conditions of this arrangement are up to you so you should spend some time deciding exactly how best to benefit your company as well as your pregnant employee.

Another contentious, and altogether less pleasant thing that you have to think about is a policy which covers redundancy.  Terminating a contract because the employee contravened it or they do not meet its conditions (if their work is not sufficient) is difficult, but when you have to let go hardworking, dedicated workers because you simply cannot afford to pay them anymore, it is excruciating. However, if the economy turns against you and you have to downsize, it is your only option. There are laws in place though to protect both you and your employees. Redundancy pay is mandated by law in Australia when employment was terminated at the initiative of the employer. The amount that needs to be paid is calculated on a sliding scale which takes into account the length of time that the employee has dedicated to the company. For example, someone who has worked more than one year but less than two is owed four weeks pay while someone who has worked for more than nine years but less than ten is owed sixteen weeks pay. These figures may seem modest. To pay someone who gave nearly a decade of service to a company the equivalent of just three months pay is rather unkind. However, if you cannot afford any more, you only need to meet your legal obligation.

Summarily dismissing someone for improper conduct obviously does not require that you pay them anything. They did not meet the stipulations of their contract, and you are therefore released from any obligations that it may have codified. However, you need to be careful that when you let someone go, it is for a reason that you can prove. Unfair dismissal is not just an inconvenience to the dismissed person. It could potentially be an opportunity to start a lawsuit, and you would have to pay a lot of money defending yourself. The Fair Act Law of 2009 covers these aspects of your small business. It states that high-income earners (the threshold is calculated each July but is roughly about $110,000) are not subject to unfair dismissal. However, employees who have worked for a small business owner (defined as someone who employs fewer than fifteen employees at one time) for over a year and are then dismissed can claim that they were unfairly dismissed. If the decision to dismiss them can be considered harsh, unjust, or unreasonable, then it is considered unfair. It is also unfair if the person resigned but was forced to do so by the employer’s conduct. It is so important that it is done properly, because if the dismissed employee can prove that it was unfair, the employer may have to pay that person six months of their salary.