Why end of year sees rise in HR queries

Between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, Peninsula Australia answered 1,751 calls and responded to 1,417 questions, seeking advice on concerns such as entitlements, conduct, and management plans.

HR specialist services provider Peninsula Australia received the highest number of inquiries from businesses in the healthcare and medical sectors at 677, followed by administration at 130, and trades at 125.

Peninsula found that the most common issues these businesses faced were employee entitlements (482 queries), conduct concerns (278 queries), and documentation requirements (278 queries).

What employers should keep an eye out for

“Employers must navigate public holiday pay, penalty rates, and annual leave rules under their relevant Modern Award, Employment Agreement and the National Employment Standards – mistakes can lead to costly compliance breaches and potential underpayments,” Peninsula said.

In addition, it noted: “End-of-year celebrations and remote work raise risks around inappropriate behaviour and policy breaches, which can result in legal disputes if not managed correctly.”

Further, it said: “Accurate record keeping for leave, incidents, and pay entitlements, including why an employee is entitled to certain penalties or allowances, is essential for compliance and protecting businesses from claims. These records must be readily accessible by Fair Work inspectors in the event of an investigation.”

Managing with the skeleton crew

Stephen Roebuck (pictured), associate director of consultancy at Peninsula, said issues arise in the holiday period due to the need to function with skeleton staffing levels and the need to keep operating despite many employees being away.

“This creates a challenging mix of continued service demand, reduced workforce capacity, and complex entitlements, particularly around public holiday penalty rates, overtime, and the need for accurate award interpretation,” Roebuck said.

According to Peninsula’s recent call volume data, employee entitlements (46.4 per cent) and conduct issues (26.8 per cent) were the two most popular inquiries during the holiday season.

Roebuck found that from these calls, employers frequently misinterpreted public holiday entitlements and penalty rates, were confused by the ongoing application of awards – in particular the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award, failed to set clear conduct expectations ahead of Christmas and end-of-year company celebrations, and expressed uncertainty on meeting record-keeping and documentation requirements.

Staying compliant

Roebuck recommended that employers plan rosters early, work to understand the awards that apply to their business, set expectations for behaviour during end-of-year work events, have a clear management plan for when staff begin to take leave during the holiday season, and maintain accurate employment documentation throughout.

“If overtime costs or staff fatigue are a concern, bringing in casuals ahead of time can reduce pressure on skeleton staff, disperse hours more evenly, and ultimately lower overtime spending,” Roebuck said.

He said that if these are kept in check, entitlement and conduct issues that roll over from the end of the year can be minimised.