human resources case studies Flashcards
Outsourcing/Contractors
UberEats hires its delivery riders as contractors
- Avoiding legal obligations (minimum wage, workers’ compensation and WHS requirements), despite the dangerous working conditions
- Uber provides up to $400,000 in compensation for families of delivery riders who are killed, less than half the legal requirement for employees under NSW law
- Uber also provides weekly payments for children they are depended for as well as funeral expenses as outlined in the NSW workers compensation legislation
- Because UberEats uses independent contractors rather than employees, there is a loss of control over their day-to-day tasks or operations or requirement for employees to report to a manager or a boss
Minimum wage and Awards
In 2015, 7-Eleven was found to have been paying its staff around half the award wage or less.
* They employed migrants on student visas, and employees feared they would be deported if they reported 7-Eleven to the FWC
- A joint investigation into 7-Eleven stores in 2015 by Four Corners and Fairfax Media has found systemic underpayment of wages and the doctoring of payroll records
* The business has now had to repay over $110 million in wages to its staff.
- 7-Eleven now uses centralised payroll systems, preventing franchisees changing workers’ rates of pay. Pay slips are also generated centrally
Enterprise Agreements
- In 2021, the union for Sydney Trains began negotiating a new enterprise agreement
- The union demanded that Sydney Trains could not outsource any more work, increase in domestic violence leave, no changes to reduce safety standards
- Led to a ‘work ban’ (a partial strike) where staff refused to change tasks once a shift started or check Opal cards.
- In response, the NSW Government announced a ‘lockout and suspended train services for a day
- In arbitration in March 2023, the FWC decided on a pay raise of over 4%, more than 1% above the NSW Government’s maximum offer
WHS and Worker’s Compensation
UberEats hires its delivery riders as contractors
- Avoiding legal obligations (minimum wage, workers’ compensation and WHS requirements), despite the dangerous working conditions
- Uber provides up to $400,000 in compensation for families of delivery riders who are killed, less than half the legal requirement for employees under NSW law
- Delivery riders previously told SBS News they felt under extreme pressure to deliver food faster, which could have contributed to unsafe work conditions
- To combat the increased deaths and injuries, they have implemented a number of safety measures for delivery riders over recent years, including road and bike safety training modules, an annual cycling safety test, and cycling-specific navigation
- The company is also undertaking an internal review of their safety systems and processes
- The NSW govt launched a task force led by SafeWork and Transport NSW to investigate the food delivery industry and whether the recent deaths were caused by “avoidable risks”
Anti- Discrimination
- Chevron have recruitment and outreach programs for underrepresented groups, ‘Women in Engineering’ training courses
- support committees for different groups (e.g. the Indigenous Employee Network and the ENABLED network for employees with disabilities)
- In 2019, Chevron earned a perfect score on the Disability Equality Index and was ranked in the top 100 ‘Best Places to Work’ on Glassdoor
Equal Employment Opportunity
● Chevron has recruitment and outreach programs that target underrepresented groups including the ‘women in engineering’ training courses
● This program was introduced to remove barriers that discourage women from participating in the resources sector, by pairing a supportive learning environment with a diverse range of industry roles and unique insights shared by women
● Since the first program was introduced in 2010, 135 women have completed this program with 35 participants progressing to further tertiary education opportunities and 86 have found employment within the oil and gas industry
● Chevron also establishes support committees for different groups like the Indigenous Employee Network and the ENABLED network for employees with disabilities
● In 2019, Chevron earned a perfect score on the Disability Equality Index and was ranked in the top 100 ‘Best Places to Work’ on Glassdoor
Technological Influences
- UNSW uses technology such as Zoom software and remote access logins so staff can work from home.
- online and recorded lectures reduced the number of lecturers and tutors that UNSW employs
- Have invested $239m over 5 years (into technology)
- Between 2011 and 2015, there was a 25% increase in postgraduate education online and the trend continues to grow
Social influences
- social influences, they have a Flexible Workplace Champion (change agent) encouraging staff to take flexible start times, part-time and remote work options, useful during the covid lockdown
Economic influences
- due to covid-19, UNSW asked staff to; take leave without pay or to earn holiday leave rather than be paid their full wage.
UNSW made 10% of employees redundant due to covid
CSR
Chevron have recruitment and outreach programs that target underrepresented groups including the ‘women in engineering’ training courses
This program was introduced to remove barriers that discourage women from participating in the resources sector, by pairing a supportive learning environment with a diverse range of industry roles and unique insights shared by women
Since the first program was introduced in 2010, 135 women have completed this program with 35 participants progressing to further tertiary education opportunities and 86 have found employment within the oil and gas industry
Chevron also establishes support committees for different groups like the Indigenous Employee Network and the ENABLED network for employees with disabilities
In 2019, Chevron earned a perfect score on the Disability Equality Index and was ranked in the top 100 ‘Best Places to Work’ on Glassdoor
Job Design
- Atlassian uses teams across areas of skill
- Staff have full control over how they spend their time
- Hold 24 hour hackathons’ (employees stop their work for a day and work together on problems)
- Smart Company has them ranked as 3rd for worker satisfaction
- 83% of Fortune 500 firms use their products
Recruitment
• Atlassian focus on general skills, ensuring corporate culture
• Linkedin to advertise and headhunt talent, skills tests and interviews to select
• Have two ‘tracks’ for internal recruitment: staff working towards promotions as specialists, and staff developed to become managers
Global Strategies
- Atlassian use Global Talent Scheme visa to employ skilled foreigners on more than $180,000 in wages
- 25% of AUS staff are on visas
- Unable to access new global staff during covid
Training & Development
• Atlassian run an annual ‘Hack House’ (week-long camp of coding, introduce mentors, work on challenges to pitch to management) to induct new graduates
• Atlassian use in-person workshops, online courses, and job widening to continue developing staff
Performance Management
- Netflix believe performance management is time-consuming and inefficient
- Use ‘keeper test’ to decide to ‘fire a good employee when they think they can find a great one’
- Underperforming staff, get paid a severance package and dismiss them immediately, rather than performance management
- Annual staff turnover of 11%, below the industry average, partly due to high quality colleagues and corporate culture
