QHA-Review_August_Digital

Sarah Swan
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
THE TEAM, WHAT WE DO AND HOW WE CAN HELP
As most of you may know, I joined the QHA in January
2022 as the Senior Employment Relations Advisor.
In October 2022, I was appointed to the role of
Employment Relations Manager. The last ten months
have seen some changes not only in the industrial
relations landscape, but also to our Employment
Relations Team. Given all these changes, I would
like to re-introduce you to our team, and provide an
overview of what we do and how we can help you.
The team
Melissa Butters joined us in October 2022 as the
Senior Employment Relations Advisor, and her main
role is taking on complex employment relations matters
and representing members in external tribunals. She
is an experienced representative with over six years in
the industrial relations industry and has represented
both employees and employers, providing her with
the ability to analyse from both perspectives. Melissa
holds a Juris Doctor, Graduate Diploma in Legal
Practice, Master of Human Services and Bachelor of
Criminology and Criminal Justice and has an interest in
legislative reforms and policy development.
In April 2023, both Melissa and I took on the AHA
National Industrial Relations Advisor role. In this
role, we provide industrial relations advice to the
AHA National Office and advocated on behalf of all
branches in national matters, such as legislative reform
and modern award variations.
Jenna Penfold joined us in June 2023 in the role of
Employment Relations Advisor. She is responsible
for providing advice on all matters, from your day-today
employment relations queries to more complex
issues. With over five years as an industrial officer for
an employee organisation, Jenna also has the unique
ability to consider both sides of a matter, ensuring
that the advice you receive is accurate and in the best
interest of the business. Jenna holds a Bachelor of
Business (Employment Relations) and a Bachelor of
Government and International Relations and has a
keen interest in investigation and disciplinary matters.
Tana Thorpe has been with the QHA since 2021 in the
role of Employment Relations Advisor. Similar to Jenna,
Tana is one of the first people you speak to when
you contact the Employment Relations Department.
Having assisted members already through a period
of significant change, such as casual conversions,
lockdowns and award changes, you can be confident
that you are receiving accurate employment relations
advice from Tana, no matter the topic.
Tana has over eight years of experience, holds a
Bachelor of Business and is committed to helping
members feel confident about employment
entitlements, award compliance and staff
management.
What we do
Employment relations can be difficult, as it is
constantly changing and evolving due to new case
law, legislation and amendments made to industrial
instruments. Keeping up to date and applying it to
your workers, along with all your other obligations,
can be overwhelming. That is what we are here for –
to assist you confidently navigate the ever-changing
employment relations landscape.
We can assist you with day-to-day employment
matters such as interpreting employment terms
and conditions, ensuring compliance with industrial
instruments and implementing best practice discipline
and termination processes. In addition to your dayto-day
employment relations issues, we can assist
in more complex matters, including matters before
external tribunals such as the Fair Work Commission,
Queensland Human Rights Commission and
Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, on a fee
for services basis.
This year, we have also seen a significant overhaul of
the Fair Work Act 2009 following the amending Secure
Jobs, Better Pay Act 2022, as well as changes at the
State level. We have kept and will continue to keep you
and fellow members up to date with these changes by
hosting monthly webinars, developing useful resources
and issuing ER Bulletins.
In addition to this, the team provides specialised
training. We assist members meet their educational
obligations by providing both staff and management
with information about workplace harassment in
our Discrimination, Bullying and Sexual Harassment
Training. Another training course we provide is HIGA
– Know your Award, as we understand that the
Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 is a difficult
and complex industrial instrument. We cover sections
of the Award that members must understand in order
to ensure compliance. Training can be provided online
or in-house.
If you would like to find more about how we can
help you, please give the Employment Relations
Department a call on 07 3221 6999 or by sending us
an email at er@qha.org.au.
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