| | | | Empowering your workforce, driving your success | | HR Insights November 2025 | | | | | | As the festive season approaches, many businesses are shifting gears, wrapping up projects, finalising leave rosters, and planning end-of-year shutdowns. | | | | It’s a period that brings both excitement and pressure, with leaders trying to balance operational needs and staff wellbeing.
This time of year often tests a company’s culture. When people are tired and timelines are tight, communication and fairness matter more than ever. A little planning and empathy can go a long way towards avoiding conflict, reducing last-minute stress, and keeping morale high. Whether that’s making expectations around shutdowns clear, setting realistic goals for the final weeks, or recognising the effort your team has put in, small actions now can make a big difference.
It’s also a good time to reflect — not on the whole year just yet, but on how your business finishes it. The way you manage the final stretch often sets the tone for the year ahead. Closing well helps people return in January feeling respected, valued, and ready to re-engage.
In this edition, we share some practical reminders and insights to help you manage the festive season with balance, compliance, and care. | | | | | | | | | | | | Protecting Wellbeing through Smarter Work Design: Guidance for Leaders | | | | This month’s article explores how work design directly shapes employee wellbeing and performance. Poorly structured work isn’t just inefficient — under WHS laws, it’s recognised as a psychosocial hazard.
We share five practical strategies for leaders to design smarter work: reassessing workloads, clarifying roles, enabling flexibility, creating safe feedback channels, and modelling balance. These small shifts can help teams finish the year engaged, not exhausted. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Managing Leave Fairly and Legally During the Holidays | | | | The festive season can test even the most organised workplaces. Between last-minute client demands and overlapping leave requests, ensuring fairness and compliance can quickly become complex. Yet getting this balance right sets the tone for how employees feel valued — and how smoothly operations run over the break.
Balancing Business Needs with Employee Rights Employers have the right to manage workloads and business continuity, but this must be done within the boundaries of the Fair Work Act and relevant awards. If your business closes for a period, employees should be given reasonable notice — generally at least four weeks — of any requirement to take annual leave. Where you remain open, consider a fair system for approving requests, such as rotating priority or reviewing past leave patterns. Transparency and consistency reduce the risk of disputes and perceptions of favouritism.
Communicate Early, Document Clearly Clarity now saves confusion later. Clearly outline your holiday schedule, any shutdown periods, and pay arrangements in writing — whether that’s via email, memo, or staff meeting follow-up. Make sure your policies reflect how leave loading, public holidays, and unpaid leave are handled. Consistent communication ensures expectations are understood and prevents last-minute tension between managers and staff.
| | 💡 Did You Know?
Nearly 60% of Australian SMEs experience staff conflict over annual leave requests in December (Fair Work Ombudsman data).
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Consider the Human Factor While compliance is essential, compassion matters too. For some, this time of year brings financial or emotional stress. Where possible, show flexibility — perhaps by allowing partial leave approvals, flexible hours, or work-from-home arrangements in the lead-up to shutdowns. Small gestures of understanding build goodwill that carries into the new year.
Prepare for the Return A smooth January start begins with planning now. Confirm key return dates, who’s responsible for essential tasks over the break, and any follow-up meetings or onboarding planned for early January. This ensures continuity and helps teams re-engage quickly when operations resume.
Key Takeaway Fairness, clarity, and care go hand in hand. Managing leave well isn’t just about ticking compliance boxes — it’s about reinforcing trust, supporting wellbeing, and finishing the year on a strong note. | | | | | | | | New Fixed Term Contract Information Statement (FTCIS) | From 1 November 2025 changes will apply to the additional fixed term contract exceptions. To learn more, you can visit the Fair Work website and download the new version of the FTCIS.
The FTCIS provides fixed term employees with information about fixed term employment, including the rules about when fixed term contracts are allowed to be made. | | Market Outlook: Skills Development and Retention | Australian employee turnover remains sustained at 16% (12-month average), with 34% of organisations experiencing 20%+ annual churn, (AHRI Quarterly Australian Work Outlook, Sep-25).
Despite easing recruitment and strong hiring intentions, retention challenges persist due to workloads, work-life balance, and skills gaps. | | | | Landmark Remote Working Decision by Fair Work Commission | The FWC ordered an employer to accommodate an employee's full-time remote work request, marking a significant precedent for flexible arrangements.
This ruling emphasises that flexibility can shift from policy to statutory obligation, potentially influencing how Australian employers handle similar requests going forward. | | In this case, the employer failed to respond to the request within the mandated 21-day period, to engage in meaningful discussion or negotiation, and to consider the actual impact for themselves or their employee.
Business owners and leaders should review remote work policies to align with evolving legal standards, especially as broader legislation formalises these rights.
Section 65A of the FW Act sets out clear procedural requirements for employers when responding to flexible working arrangement (FWA) requests.
| | | | | | The Fair Work Commission has confirmed or proposed several key updates as part of its gender-based undervaluation review. Significant wage and classification changes are coming for the Pharmacy, Children’s Services, Health Professionals & Support Services (HPSS), SCHADS, and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health Workers Awards. | | Employers should start reviewing which awards apply, factor projected wage increases into budgets, and prepare for reclassification reviews in 2025–2027.
Key takeaway: These adjustments are aimed at addressing pay equity — but they’ll also have major implications for budgeting, payroll, and compliance planning.
📘 Check our blog next week for a detailed breakdown of these changes, including timelines and what actions employers should take to prepare. employers: Expect a more active Commission and more staff willing to escalate issues. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Client Feedback – How We Make a Difference | | "It has been an absolute pleasure working with Elisia Coetzee and her team at Strategic HR Australia as part of a capability uplift for my private medical practice.
Elisia is not only a subject matter expert in employment and contract law, but she has also acted as a trusted advisor and mentor throughout every step of the process.
From the initial discussions on how best to advertise and recruit for highly specific clinical and administrative roles, through to the preparation of a comprehensive candidate comparison report that made decision-making straightforward and efficient, Elisia and her team have consistently exceeded my expectations.
Rarely does the name of a professional entity so accurately reflect its practice, yet in the case of Strategic HR Australia, the name truly does.
Elisia’s integrity, attention to detail, and personalised approach have been invaluable.
Her willingness to build a trusting professional relationship over time has removed much of the anxiety that can accompany recruitment and onboarding new team members.
I have no hesitation in wholeheartedly recommending Strategic HR Australia to any business owner seeking a reliable, knowledgeable, and genuinely supportive HR partner."
— Dr Richard Magtengaard Director & Consultant Psychiatrist | | | | | | | | Compliance doesn't take a break | | As the year winds down, it’s easy to overlook the finer details of compliance, but policy requirements, award rates, and Fair Work obligations don’t take holidays.
A short review now can help prevent headaches in the new year. Our free HR Compliance Audit is designed to help you identify any gaps before they become problems. | | | | Why take the audit?  It's completely free. Receive an instant tailored report with practical tips. Receive a discount if you engage our services. Protect what you’ve built – safeguard your business against claims. Gain peace of mind – know you’re meeting Fair Work obligations.
Start 2026 confident that your business is covered!
| | | | | | | | | | | | Connect With Our HR Experts | | Call us today at 08 6117 9270 | | | | | | | | | | | | Reach out to us at: support@strategichr.com.au
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