The Easter holiday period is always a popular period for leave requests, with many employees seeking to take advantage of the number of public holidays. With COVID-19 restrictions easing across the country, employees may take this opportunity to have a well-earned break. This leaves employers with the challenge of balancing their employees leave requests as well as ensuring there is enough coverage during their operating hours. Easter holidays for all states and territories In addition to the Easter holidays, this year the ANZAC Day public holiday occurs soon after. This may mean that employee ..read more

In October 2021 , HABA members were informed of the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) decision to vary the weekend penalty rate provisions for casual employees under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2020. The penalty rate increases are being phased in over six stages, with the most recent increase taking effect from the first full pay period that starts on or after 31 December 2022. The current phase and the most recent weekend penalty rates are highlighted in green below. Saturday weekend penalty rates The penalty rates for all ordinary hours worked by a casual employee on a Saturday within the ..read more

Background The Federal Court of Australia heard that 85 Degrees Coffee Australia, which operates several retail stores and factories, hired eight employees as ‘student interns’, after its parent company arranged for a Taiwanese university’s students to gain work experience. The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) alleged that between July 2016 and June 2017, the employees were underpaid amounts ranging from $50,213 to $58,249 each and failed to keep employment records. The records that the employer failed to make and keep for seven years included: a record that specified whether the employees were empl ..read more

With the Christmas period soon upon us, many salon owners will be considering whether to close down and for how long. Strict rules apply for close downs, so everyone needs to be prepared. The rules governing periods of close down for employers and employees under the national workplace relations system are derived from the National Employment Standards (NES) in the Fair Work Act and modern awards or enterprise agreements. Award covered employees The NES permits modern awards to allow employers to direct employees to take annual leave in reasonable circumstances. Annual close down under the H ..read more

As your nationally recognised employer association, HABA is responsible for representing the opinions and concerns of salon owners at all levels of government – including on the issue of skills shortages across our industry.   This is how our voices get heard by policymakers and lead to REAL Change for the Hair and Beauty Industry.   HABA are inviting all members to raise their voices and contribute to feedback given on the Skills Priority List for 2023. While we were thrilled to see that Beauty Therapy, Hairdressers and Hair and Beauty Managers all made the National Skills Commissio ..read more

We are pleased to announce the HABA AGM date today, offered as both a virtual experience and as an in-person event if there is sufficient interest. This allows our members from across the country to have the same experience of our AGM and allows our national member base to equally contribute to the conversation. WHEN: MONDAY 21 November 2022 TIME: 5:45pm for 6:00pm start WHERE: Via Zoom link, emailed to all registrants closer to the date. Download the HABA Financial Statements here. Register your attendance by emailing info@askhaba.com.au with your name, phone number, location and membershi ..read more

Parental leave is another entitlement under the NES and is available to eligible salon employees when a child is born or adopted. Parental leave can be taken by male and female workers, and casual employees may be eligible for parental leave if they are employed on a regular and systematic basis. Here’s everything salon owners need to know about Parental leave for the Hair and Beauty Industry. What is parental leave? Parental leave is an NES entitlement that can be taken when: an employee gives birth to a child; or the employee’s spouse or de facto partner gives birth; or an employee adopts ..read more

All Australians, and particularly small business owners, are aware of the challenging economic position that we find ourselves in post-pandemic. While this has had an impact on the Albanese Governments’ first budget, and Labor’s first budget in over a decade, it’s not all doom and gloom. While small businesses were not mentioned by name regularly, there are several initiatives that directly benefit salon owners that came out of Treasurer Jim Chalmer’s budget address: A $4.7 billion investment in childcare and early childhood education subsidies will see families earning less than $5 ..read more

Choosing the software that is going to underpin your salon is key to ensuring that your salon operates at peak efficiency. However, if you’ve ever investigated salon software even casually, you will know that the price varies wildly, without there being necessarily great differentiation between offerings. So, the question has to be asked – do you really get what you pay for when it comes to salon software?   Free software: There absolutely IS free salon software around and available – but is it the best choice for your business? Only you can answer that. What we can tell you is that most ..read more

Compassionate leave (previously known as bereavement leave) is an entitlement under the National Employment Standards (NES) provided to all employees, including casuals. There are ‘permissible occasions’ which provide an employee with an entitlement to compassionate leave. Salon owners need to be on top of all aspects of the National Employment Standards to ensure that they protect themselves from inadvertent liability. This article will explain the basics of compassionate leave so that employers can support their employees during difficult times. How much compassionate leave is available? Und ..read more