Employment Law Fundamentals
17 April 2008

This program will provide you with current information on employment contracts, legislation, awards and agreements as well as other employee entitlements.  It will also help you identify the current legal obligations of employers towards employees and will provide you with practical strategies for ensuring your company adheres to these legal requirements in the development, execution and termination of employment contracts.

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Effective Recruitment and Selection
29 April 2008

People are the greatest asset to any business, but finding the right person for the job is not always easy. In today’s business environment, ensuring your recruitment procedures comply with legal requirements and basic HR principles is just as important as finding the right person.  This program will improve your knowledge and understanding of recommended methods for recruitment and selection.

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Customer Service Skills to Meet Frontline Challenges
15 April

This interactive workshop will assist people in any role to develop better relationships with their customers and meet their organisation's goal of being a customer driven company.  This course will be very useful for counter staff, receptionists, truck drivers, tradesmen, installers and anyone who deals with customers face to face.

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Customer Service Skills to Meet Frontline Challenges

What does it take to provide consistently high standards of service day after day?

How can some people stay pleasant and positive and turn around even the most difficult of situations? What are the tips and techniques that can make a difference no matter what your customer service role? Attend this course and you will find out.

Outcomes

This interactive workshop will assist people in any role to develop better relationships with their customers and meet their organisation's goal of being a customer driven company.

Content

• what we mean by good customer service
• your attitude and the customers attitude
• taking a customer focused approach
• is the customer always right?
• communicating effectively with your customers
• questioning and listening skills
• do these skills work with internal customers?
• an Australian case study on video
• handling customer problems

Who should attend?

This course is for counter staff, receptionists, truck drivers, tradesmen, installers and anyone who deals with customers face to face.

Duration: One day

Dates: 15 April 2008

Course times: 8.30am - 4.30pm (8.15am registration)

Program fee: $363 members; $495 non-members (Prices include GST)

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This course will assist you in determining the practical impact of your awards and agreements and to understand their interaction with other legislation.

Outcomes

Through the use of practical exercises and real life examples, this program will help you understand the application of your specific award or registered agreement and its interaction with legislation, including the impact of amendments to the Federal Workplace Relations system. It will show you how to interpret essential award principles and how to identify and avoid common problems associated with the interpretation of awards and agreements.

Content

• contracts of employment
• industrial awards/ notional agreements preserving state awards
• respondency
• area
• scope
• agreements
• hours and overtime
• minimum employee entitlements 
• leave entitlements 
• contract of service, termination and redundancy

Who should attend?

Managers, Supervisors, Payroll Administrators and Human Resource Professionals

Note: It is important that attendees to this course bring a copy of their applicable award or agreement.

Duration: One day

Date: 2 May 2008

Course times: 8.30am - 4.30pm (8.15am registration)

Program fee: $363 members; $495 non-members (Prices include GST on lunch component only)

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Learn more about the purpose and application of common trade terms and become more successful in conducting international transactions involving the sale and purchase of goods.

Outcomes

This program will help you understand why trade terms are used to specify the terms and conditions of international trade contracts. It will also introduce you to the most commonly used trade terms (e.g. FOB, CIF) and to understand the universally accepted definitions of those terms – Incoterms.

Participants will learn how to apply Incoterms to international trade transactions.

Content

• trade terms - why use them?
• incoterms - how to use them
• negotiating the export/import transaction
• choice of terms eg. EXW, FOB, FCA, CFR, CIF, CIP, DDP etc.
• buyer and seller obligations under each term

Duration: Half day

Date: 21 April 2008

Course times: 8.30am - 12.00pm (8.15am registration)

Program fee: $250 members; $300 non-members (Includes a comprehensive reference book)

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People are the greatest asset to any business, but finding the right person for the job is not always easy. In today’s business environment, ensuring your recruitment procedures comply with legal requirements and basic HR principles is just as important as finding the right person.

Outcomes

This program will improve your knowledge and understanding of recommended methods for recruitment and selection. If applied correctly these methods will help you avoid distressing and costly mistakes.

Content

• discrimination legislation 
• recruiting during the skills shortage
• strategic recruitment
• drafting performance standards and selection criteria
• preparing a good job advertisement 
• using appropriate selection tools
• conducting an effective interview
• preparing and commencing the contract
• the importance of a good induction

Who should attend?

Managers, Recruitment Consultants and Human Resources Officers and Managers

Duration: One day

Dates: 29 April 2008

Course times: 8.30am - 4.30pm (8.15am registration)

Program fee: $363 members; $495 non-members  (Prices include GST on lunch component only)

Commonsense has prevailed with the state's largest regional centre becoming the latest community to recognise the benefits of providing choice and competition to consumers in the local retail sector.

The City of Bunbury is the latest community to recognise the need to overhaul the state’s trading laws which impede choice, competition and innovation in the retail sector.

The state's peak business organisation, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, congratulates the City of Bunbury for listening and acting upon the wishes of its residents by seeking state government exemption from the current archaic trading arrangements.

Deregulating shopping hours in Bunbury serves as further evidence that public opinion on the issue has turned. A recent survey conducted by the Bunbury City Council revealed a majority of the local community favour longer and more flexible shopping hours.

The decision paves the way for Bunbury to further grow and prosper while enhancing its reputation as the economic and retail powerhouse of the state's south west.

This is a monumental decision for local businesses and the community as it will remove unnecessary layers of government red tape and regulation.

It is also pleasing that the erroneous arguments put forward by a small group of local retailers with a vested interest in keeping their competitors closed were ignored.

While CCI congratulates the Bunbury community for embracing a competitive and flexible retail sector, the campaign will continue across the state to ensure all retailers and consumers benefit.

CCI welcomes the Premier Alan Carpenter's pledge to deregulate the state’s trading hours and calls on the State Opposition to declare their support.

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SWITCH ON to Energy Savings!

Do you want to save energy, save money and become an active participant in reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions?

What is the Small Business Climate Change Action Initiative?

The initiative aims to:

• assist business to reduce costs and environmental impacts by identifying opportunities for the management of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use;
• assist the Australian Government to understand small business greenhouse gas emissions and energy use behaviours, and;
• build an ongoing relationship with a cross section of small businesses nationally.

How can I participate?

The Australian Government is inviting 55 small businesses in Perth to take part in stage one of the Small Business Climate Change Action Initiative.

The targeted businesses are those with less than 20 employees who are not part of a chain or franchise and are not home businesses.  The business needs to have 12 months worth of energy bills available.

Deadlines are extremely tight on this exercise with assessments starting 12 May 2008. Hence, it is first come first served.  Be quick!

These businesses will receive a free greenhouse assessment that provides:

• one-on-one expert energy advice;
• an overview of their energy use and key sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and;
• a tailored action plan identifying opportunities for emissions reductions and cost savings.

Information from the program will shape the advice and tools provided to the business world to help fight climate change.

Your assessment will be carried out by Energetics.  Energetics is a specialist energy and environmental management company that has been selected to deliver this Small Business Climate Change Action Initiative on behalf of the Government.

Energetics is currently seeking expressions of interest from small businesses located here in Perth. 

To register, call the number provided or register online.

Telephone 1800 42 67 61
Website: www.energetics.com.au/climate500 
Email: Climate500@energetics.com.au

PRINCE2 Project Method - Foundation Training - Achieving Better Project Outcomes

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This three-day foundation course will develop your understanding of project management methods and the underlying principles supporting its application.  

Benefiting all types and sizes of projects, this cutting edge project management methodology is now viewed as ‘de-facto’ world’s best practice project management.

The training program will:

• explain PRINCE2's processes, components and techniques and how they contribute to the effective control of a project;
• explain the value of using PRINCE2 at the team, project and senior management level;
• explain the purpose of major management products;
• transfer knowledge on how to effectively apply PRINCE2, and;
• prepare participants for PRINCE2 Foundation Certification.

At the conclusion of the course participants will understand:

• the value, principles and terminology of PRINCE2;
• the purpose and content of the PRINCE2 elements;
• roles in a PRINCE2 project;
• the main purpose, and key contents of major management products;
• the relationships between project processes, deliverables, roles and the management dimensions of a project, and;
• when and how to apply PRINCE2.

Numbers are strictly limited to 15 participants per course so book early to ensure your place.

Date:	23 & 25 June, 6-8 August or 6-8 October
Venue:	CCI Training Centre, 180 Hay Street, East Perth
Time:	9.00am - 5.30pm
Cost:	$1750 per person (Price includes 10 per cent GST)

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What makes a dismissal unfair? Recent management surveys reveal that receiving a claim for unfair dismissal is one of the greatest fears for most employers.  The complexity of employment law means that employers and managers require training to avoid costly mistakes.  

Outcomes

This program examines what constitutes a valid reason to end an employment contract and the basic pre-termination procedures necessary to avoid an unfair dismissal claim. In this course we also explore some of the trickier issues concerning termination of employment, including abandonment and termination due to illness and injury. The program bridges the gap between knowing the theory of procedural fairness when counselling and disciplining employees and actually applying it in the workplace.

Content

• valid and invalid reasons for termination
• basic procedural fairness for poor performance and misconduct
• when is a ’resignation’ really a ’dismissal’?
• correct notice and other requirements upon termination
• fair procedures in:
• planning and implementing redundancies
• managing excessive absenteeism and abandonment
• terminating employees on workers’ compensation
• good documentation
• the difference between counselling and discipline
• how to provide effective feedback
• how to run a counselling and discipline meeting

Who should attend?

Human Resources Professionals and Senior Managers

Duration:	Two days
Dates:	12-13 May 2008
Course times:	8.30am - 4.30pm (8.15am registration)
Program fee:	$677 members; $799 non-members  (Prices include GST on lunch component only)

The Australian Government has announced that the Productivity Commission will undertake an inquiry into paid maternity, paternity and parental leave.

The Government’s stated intention is to “explore ways to make it as easy as possible for working mums to balance their employment with the important job of raising a new generation of Australians”.

In undertaking the inquiry the Commission is to:

1. identify the economic, productivity and social costs and benefits of providing paid maternity, paternity and parental leave;
2. explore the extent of current employer provision of paid maternity, paternity and parental leave in Australia;
3. identify paid maternity, paternity and parental leave models that could be used in the Australian context;
4. assess those models for their potential impact on:
• the financial and regulatory cost and benefits on small and medium sized business
• the employment of women, women's workforce participation and earnings and the workforce participation of both parents more generally
• work/family preferences of both parents in the first two years after the child's birth
• the post-birth health of the mother
• the development of young children, including the particular development needs of newborns in their first two years
• relieving the financial pressures on families
5. assess the cost effectiveness of these models;
6. assess the interaction of these models with the Social Security and Family Assistance Systems;
7. assess the impacts and applicability of these models across the full range of employment forms (e.g. including for the self-employed, farmers, shift workers), and;
8. assess the efficiency and effectiveness of government policies that would facilitate the provision and take-up of these models.

The Commission is to report by February 2009.  It has called for submissions by 2 June 2008 and will hold a public hearing in Perth on 29 May 2008.

CCI is preparing a submission in response to the Inquiry and will appear at the public hearing.  Members wishing to discuss the Inquiry or make comment about paid parental leave provisions operating in their workplace should contact Marcia Kuhne on 9365 7699 or email marcia.kuhne@cciwa.com or Jessica Price on 9365 7630 or email jessica.price@cciwa.com.