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August Newsletter, 2022
A sincere welcome to all our members to our August newsletter and thank you for all the feedback received which was very positive on our recent webinars in relation to Recruitment, Investigations and Occupational Health and Safety.
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A number of members have requested that we conduct a face-to-face day training session in investigation techniques going into much more detail and also implementing a mock court type of environment to provide our members with real skills, the webinar is an excellent precursor to this proposed training session which will be conducted off site. If any member is interested in sending any of their people to this session, then please send me a message to express your interest.
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A number of members have also requested that we go in to much more detail in relation to Workplace Rehabilitation as a stand alone subject so we are in the process of preparing a webinar on how to comply with best practice and legislation and minimize organisational risk so this well be delivered by our OHS Consultant in the next few months.
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These webinars all available for viewing on our website and you will find links within this newsletter.
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We have also received some very interesting questions in relation to our recent articles on employee wellness and as promised the final article being part 3 is in this newsletter.
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To help get you all started I am coordinating a 10,000-step program which is free for all to participate in so please register your interest, details about the initiative are in this newsletter and the details are also included in the newsletter in Part 3 Employee Wellness.
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It has been a pleasure to speak to a number of our members who are considering implementing their own employee and volunteer wellness programs and I have been asked to put together a webinar which will cover all three articles and answer a number of questions that have been submitted by our members so that will take place shortly so please express your interest.
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One of our members has requested if our Industrial Relations expert Craig could provide us with an additional regular webinar on current events and what to watch out for and Craig has kindly offered to conduct a short regular webinar free for all our members on current trends within the IR space so please have a look at this new initiative within the newsletter. This will provide our members with real time webinar updates on important events and decisions that are relevant to allow us to provide pro-active solutions to current issues.
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This has been a very busy time for our Finance Department in end of year work assisting our members with numerous and sometimes complex pieces of work. There are also some interesting articles relating to Finance within the newsletter.
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Congratulations to the children from Highfields Kindy, three of which won a colouring in prize, gift vouchers from Toyword in the “child safety colouring in competition”. This month we are emphasizing good nutrition for our children. Please encourage all to take part in our competitions.
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We have some lovely new marketing material available for our members including our new master brochure, our mascot “Pete the Penguin” stress squeeze toy, usb sticks, hand sanitizers and pens so if you are interested in any of those then please give me a call and I will send some out to you.
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Our Health and Safety Consultant has prepared a very interesting article on Playground Safety so please take the time to read this article.
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We have a special which is valid to the end of the year on our Health and Safety Audits with 10% off of our usual rate. These are vital to ensure safety for all, employees, volunteers, visitors. clients and children and I cannot emphasize how important it is that you take advantage of this service.
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In closing we have had a few very valuable members of staff leaving us this month to pursue other opportunities including Ron, our Senior Accountant and Trisha, who has been with us for over four years as our Office Coordinator and Marketing Officer. We wish them all the best in their new endeavors.
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In our October edition we will be launching our new on line training portal and I will be writing a three part article on the importance of Learning and Development and the impact that this can have if done well on your organisational effectiveness.
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As always if there are any topics that you would like us to cover is future issues then please advise.
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In closing thank you again for continuing to be members of our organisation, we have a dedicated team of Board Members, Management and staff who are committed to providing support when needed on routine and complex matters and we are always just a phone call away.
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CMSolutions: Your trusted partner, providing the safety net in the tough times and peace of mind at all times.
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How Safe is your Personal Protection Equipment?
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An employer has an obligation to provide and enforce personal protection equipment (PPE) for their employees.
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Do you know if the PPE you provide is safe and fit for the purpose it is used for?
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What steps have you taken, or do you know what steps you should take to ensure the equipment is safe?
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The employer has a general obligation to ensure the safety of their employees and one of these obligations is to provide safe and appropriate PPE.
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Therefore, to ensure that the PPE will do the job, the equipment should be sourced from reputable suppliers and checked to see that the product states that it complies with Australian Standards. Also check to see if there has been a recall on the product in the past.
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If an employee wants to provide his or her own PPE, the employer needs to check the PPE before use. If an injury occurs because the PPE was not safe, it is still the employer’s responsibility to make sure the PPE is safe for the employee. If there is an injury and a workers compensation claim, the safety regulator may look closer at the PPE being used and there maybe questions asked.
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To make sure you are following the correct safety obligations, it is good practice to provide reputable PPE to your employees and ensure that your employees are safe when using appropriate PPE.
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If you are not sure what to do, or what your responsibilities are, contact CMS on 07 3852 5177 and we can assist you with the necessary information.
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CMSolutions staff Member Profile - Jen
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Jen Chandler has been an employee of CMS since 2010. She is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience in the profession. Jen assists with the finance function of CMS, and also the external audits of our members.
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When not working Jen loves being active, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends. She particularly loves to run and has recently completed her 8th Marathon! Jen also has a huge passion for travel and experiencing different cultures. She has three busy and fun children and is a regular volunteer at their schools.
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In our last two newsletters we discussed wellness initiatives including the benefits of implementing such a program.
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We have received considerable interest from our members on the topic of Wellness and the impact that can have on cultural alignment, talent attraction and retention and I will be conducting a webinar free for members shortly as advertised in this newsletter. In this webinar we can go into much more detail and I can answer some of the frequently asked questions that have come through for the benefit of all our members.
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To start your wellness initiative Community Management Solutions invites all of your people to join us in a health initiative being the 10,000 steps for Workplaces and Communities Challenge. I will coordinate this for you and further details are contained in this newsletter on how to participate.
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This can be the catalyst for starting or implementing a wellness program.
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In this final article I wish to discuss how to design or implement a wellness program.
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Some of the information may be useful some not as all wellness programs are unique and although there are similarities and general principles each program must be designed for your organisation as each is unique as far as resources and circumstances.
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True wellness is a collaboration of several interlaced principles including but not limited to employee culture, mental health, stress coping, physical health, nutrition, alignment, opportunities, fairness and equity, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, environmental and social all linked to the workplace.
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Wellness programs are ultimately designed to not only support but assist the general principle of work life balance which leads to a more engaged person and also more success.
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According to research every $1 invested in employee wellness programs yields $4 in savings through reduced sick days, higher productivity and decreased overall health costs.
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Some steps which may assist:
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- Ensure you have management support for the program, a genuine desire to implement such a program and some funding and or resources to support this.
- Conduct employee surveys to look at culture and build wellness principles into the survey, find out what your people want and what is most important to them from a wellness perspective.
- Consider after obtaining authority and permission and agreement from all (not compulsory for any person) health risk assessments.
- Establish a wellness committee, formalize the process, get people engaged and involved so it becomes your program, be flexible in your expectations but stay positive and always look at a variety of options. Communicate regularly with all stakeholders.
- Develop specific goals with realistic time frames.
- Determine a budget and look at funding initiatives.
- Create and develop a plan for management regarding the potential return on investment.
- Design the overall program make sure it is affordable, relevant and achievable, take baby steps first.
- Cover a variety of those key attributes as discussed such as physical, mental and social.
- Look at incentives or rewards for participation. (for example, we are giving away a number of prizes for members who participate in our 10,000 step program)
- Communicate at all stages both to your people and management.
- Stay positive, not all programs will be practical or achievable please do not let this discourage you.
- Evaluate your success and communicate and celebrate wins.
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Remember “Healthy People Better Business”
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Finally, do not be afraid to ask for help. CMSolutions can help you in this regard and you are welcome to contact me at any time for a chat.
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The webinar will take place on,
Wednesday, 5th October @ 11:00am
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Since our last Newsletter we have hosted one new Webinar.
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Kevin Prendergast our CEO, recently hosted a Webinar on Investigations.
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There are many benefits from conducting a workplace investigation ensuring that the facts of the matter are properly investigated which leads to an evidence based conclusion. Early intervention is extremely important to address and correct inappropriate conduct at work.
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We thank you for all the terrific feedback that we received from our members in relation to the webinar. For those who missed out then please access the link below.
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All these questions were answered in detail at the end of the webinar so if you are interested in those responses then please refer to the webinar.
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You can find this webinar along with all the other webinars we've hosted on our Website, in the Member Resources.
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As always if you have any questions or have any topics of interest for future webinars please get in contact on
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07 3852 5177 or email info@cmsolutions.org.au
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Advertisement - Industry Partner
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Targets are good. Action is better.
NGS Super recently divested from some big fossil fuel companies. This reflects our commitment to taking action to address climate change and create a better future for our members.
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Just over 12 months ago, we announced our ambitious target to transition our portfolio to carbon neutral by 2030. Since then, we’ve set an interim target to reduce carbon in our portfolio by 35% by 2025. The recent divestments are taking us another step further towards our goals.
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Find out more about the progress we’ve made, our reasons for divesting in some of the big fossil fuel companies now and our plans for the future at ngssuper.com.au/ESG
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We’re on the way towards to our net zero target by 2030.
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NGS Super helpline can be contacted on 1300 133 177 Monday to Friday, 8am–8pm (AEST/AEDT).
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INVESTIGATIONS TRAINING DAY
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Due to interest from members as a result of the Investigations Webinar we will be conducting an Investigation Training Day on the 24TH of November 2022 at an offsite location for any member who is interested in attending.
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This will be a full day training session and the topics that will be covered will include but certainly not limited to:
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- How to property conduct an Investigation
- The rules of evidence
- Cognitive Interviewing
- Contemporaneous note taking
- Compliance with Procedural Fairness and Natural Justice
- Investigations Best Practice
- Case Precedents
- How to interview people
- Establishing rapport
- Maintaining Confidentiality
- How to take statements
- How to prepare for a court appearance
I have over twenty years of experience in conducting Investigations and I will be facilitating the session.
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This will give you experience and confidence in this key area.
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Most importantly Craig and I will conduct a mock court and a number of participants will get to participate in a mock court training session where you will experience what it is like to give evidence in chief and/or to be cross examined.
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I strongly recommend you please watching my webinar first prior to coming to the session as the day will be covering topics of an advanced nature.
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This is only open to members and the cost will be $275 per member.
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All learning materials and handouts also provided.
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Morning tea, afternoon tea and Lunch will be provided.
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Elvis is currently showing at the movies and also available on some streaming platforms.
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It is a very enjoyable experience especially for an Elvis fan and the actor playing Elvis has received accolades for his performance.
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Tom Hanks also delivers a superb performance.
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The energy in the film is at times mesmerising and the movie takes you on a journey regarding the truth of who really was Elvis Presley.
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The settings and fashions appear to be a very accurate reflection of the times over several decades and of course the music is superb.
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It has a long run time but as all good movies time moves quickly and it is well paced and the cinematography is outstanding. Enjoy the movie
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Our score 4 out of 5, don’t miss it!
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What is overtime?
Overtime is when an employee works “additional hours”. This can include work done:
• beyond their ordinary hours of work;
• outside the agreed number of hours; or
• outside the spread of ordinary hours.
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The spread of hours is the times ordinary hours for day work can be worked e.g. between 7.00 am to 7.00pm. Refer to your applicable Award or EBA as some organisations differ from this.
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Find out more about when overtime applies, and what you can do when an employee is claiming over time.
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If you have any questions, contact CMSolutions for assistance on 07 3852 5177.
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Soft Fall & Playground Requirements in Childcare
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Brian is our OHS Consultant here at Community Management Solutions. Brian has drawn up some key points to consider and what is required for Playgrounds in Queensland. Some examples are also included in this article.
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You can read the article HERE
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If you have any questions regarding these requirements please call us on 07 3852 5177 and ask for Brian, alternately email Brian at briana@cmsolutions.org.au and he will be able to provide assistance.
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NEW CMSolutions Merchandise
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Please have a look at our new merchandise for our members including our new master brochure, our mascot “Pete the Penguin" squeeze toy, usb sticks, pens, hand sanitizers and master brochures, if you would like any of these items then please give me a call.
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Attention Members - "10,000 Steps"
Please note that as part of our desire to support your employee wellness programs, we are coordinating a 10,000 step program for all of our members.
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Kevin will be the coordinator for the program.
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This will allow us to run a tournament for all of our members which has some very cool prizes for the winners.
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Why should you participate?
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Regular physical activity is a proven way to prevent chronic diseases as well as improve mood, concentration and emotionally health.
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The 10,000 step program is a FREE fun and easy way for individuals, workplaces, teams and communities to increase participation in physical activities.
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- Email Kevin if you are interested in participating prior to the 10th of October
- You can enter individually or as a member of a team of four
- Use a step counter(mobile app etc) to calculate your daily/weekly steps
- Email Kevin at kevinp@cmsolutions.org.au each Friday if possible, with your total number of steps for the week
- Kevin will collate the results and provide updates.
- There will be both individual and team prizes at the conclusion of the event.
Anyone can participate, let's get healthy together
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Advertisement - Industry Partner
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We are pleased to announce that our Industrial Relations Expert Craig Pollard will be conducing a regular short webinar every six weeks on any current changes or decisions that have been made within Industrial Relations that may impact our members.
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Craig will speak on a number of topics which have come to light on a regular basis and also if there is something urgent then additional webinars will be introduced as the need arises.
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Craig has extensive experience, knowledge, skills and expertise in this space so please take advantage of this initiative and you can also utilize this time to meet fellow members online as a networking tool and to express ideas or discuss challenges.
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Also is there is anything specific that you would like Craig to discuss, or any particular questions then please send Craig a message.
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Update your committee details here
to ensure you don't miss our correspondence
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Leave without Pay
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Craig has drawn up an article after many of our members have queried what to do with employee requested for leave without pay. Please have a read on what he suggested you can do HERE!
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CMSolutions are advocates for Mental Health and have partnered with Acacia EAP to ensure our members can access a service to support their staff.
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| For more information, call 1300 364 273 and mention you are a CMSolutions Member. |
| Other Resources Available: |
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