#202 - Changes To The Law You Need To Know
Keeping up with legal updates can be overwhelming and confusing. If you’re like most of my clients, you’ve probably felt unsure about where to source reliable information. With the huge amount of content floating around online, it’s easy to get lost in what's accurate and applicable to you. So, today I’m guiding you through some critical legal changes you need to be aware of as a service-based small business owner.
Wage Compliance
One topic gaining significant attention is wage compliance. As of 1st January, intentionally underpaying employees is now a criminal offence. The key term here is "intentional", which, like most aspects of the law, introduces some grey areas. If you’re uncertain about your compliance, I strongly encourage you to consult the Fair Work website, particularly the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code. This is a really helpful resource that provides clarity on what’s considered intentional versus unintentional. Making sure you're on the right side of this law is crucial so engage your accountant or legal team to ensure you’re meeting all necessary standards.
Understanding Privacy Law Overhauls
Something I've been talking to my clients about for the past 18 months is changes to privacy law. The privacy legislation is outdated and the current exemptions for small businesses are going to be removed, which means privacy compliance is not an option - it’s a necessity.
You need to have a compliant privacy policy accessible on the home page of your website, showcasing transparency with your clients about how you handle their data. Particularly in this climate where more and more people are doing things online, being crystal clear on your compliance with the way you manage personal data is essential.
The Right to Disconnect
The right to disconnect is another legislative change that has been implemented for non-small businesses and will soon apply to small businesses as well. This law allows employees to refrain from work-related contact outside of regular hours unless it's reasonable.
Don’t worry - you’re not going to jail if one of your employees gets an email from a client out of business hours. But make sure that you start discussions with your team now to establish clear after-hours communication policies. Understanding what’s reasonable in your specific context is crucial to ensuring compliance.
Industry Specific - Tax and BAS agents
For tax and BAS agents, new mandates from 1st July will require stricter adherence to record-keeping and quality management standards. Ensure your documents, disclosures, and client agreements reflect these changes.
There is a lot of information here, so if you're overwhelmed by everything you need to go through, my advice is to make a list and start from the top.
Industry Specific - Interior Designers
For those in construction or interior design, pay attention to the ban on importing certain engineered stone products like benchtops, panels and slabs.
You have a positive obligation now to know what's banned and what's not. Make sure you keep this front of mind when making selections with your clients.
Unfair Contract Terms
The final change I’m going to mention is the enforcement of laws regarding unfair contract terms. These changes came into place in November 2023, but this is still new information for some business owners.
It’s absolutely vital that your client service agreements do not include any unfair contract terms, particularly when it comes to your termination clause. If there are any unfair terms, your entire contract will be considered null and void and you’ll have absolutely nothing to stand on.
QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK
Where do I start with my legals?
This is a question I often get asked. If you’re a service-based business with a website, you need three core documents: your client service agreement, website terms and conditions, and a privacy policy. These are not just formalities—they lay the foundation for clear, legally sound business operations.
Can I use my existing T's and C's with my new offerings?
This is a great question and the answer is, well it depends! However, if you're considering updating your offerings, don’t just assume that your existing terms and conditions will be suitable without reviewing them. Depending on how your original Ts and Cs were drafted, they may or may not be compliant.
With everything when it comes to business law, staying compliant involves constant vigilance and surrounding yourself with the right professionals. If you’re unsure about any changes to the law, feel free to reach out. I’d love to help.
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[00:00:00] Tracey: Welcome back everyone to another episode of the rise up in business podcast. Today, I'm going to share with you as a service based small business owner, some really important legal updates that you need to be aware of when it comes to changes in the law. I know it can feel really overwhelming. It can feel confusing.
[00:00:38] And I know from feedback that I received from clients, it can be really tricky to know where to go or who to turn to. To know what you need to know, there is a lot in the media. There is a lot that gets shared on social media around. This is a change. This change you need to know this applies. No, it doesn't.
[00:00:57] Where do you go? What's right. So to that, I want to say, come here, come to me. If you're not on my email list. Perhaps you might like to start there. In fact, I invite you to please join the email list. I send fortnightly briefing notes to my list and in that I share updates you need to know about my take on certain things.
[00:01:17] I share real life examples of things to put what I say into context. I share tips and tricks. I share guidance. I share as much value as I possibly can to my list directly every fortnight. The other place is here and you're already here the podcast. I'm doing this episode today because I received overwhelming thanks and gratitude from a recent issue of the briefing notes to my list where I talked about really important changes to the law.
[00:01:46] So this is the stuff you need to know. This is why you're here. Thank you for being here. But please, if you're not already on my list for the briefing notes, please take a moment to do that. The link will be in the show notes. Okay. Let's dive in. The first change I want to talk [00:02:00] about that you need to know about as a small business owner is wage compliance. Wage compliance gets serious.
[00:02:06] So from one January this year, it's now a criminal offence if you intentionally underpay. The key here is intentional, so it has to be intentional and like all things when it comes to the law, there are grey areas, and what does it mean? And I have fielded calls from business owners who are really worried, not knowing if they're doing all the right things.
[00:02:26] So, To that I say, if this is of a concern to you, go and have a look on the Fair Work website at the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code. That's a bit of a mouthful. It's the voluntary, which means it's not compulsory, it's there to help you, small Business Wage Compliance Code. It's not that long of a document, but it will give you some guidance on what is going to be considered intentional and what will be considered Unintentional.
[00:02:54] Take the time to get this right. If you're not sure if the award that you've been paying under has been updated, if you're not sure whether you're complying, speak to your accountant, ask the question, do what you need to do to have the peace of mind that everything is as it should be and that you're complying with minimum standards.
[00:03:12] So, wage compliance, it's real. It's a thing. It can be a criminal offence. This is really serious stuff so, as a business owner, you have a positive obligation to take steps to get this right. So do that. Speak to the right people in your team. Get this right. That's the first thing. The second update I want to share with you is in relation to privacy law.
[00:03:31] Now, if you're a client of mine, you will have heard me talking about this for at least 18 months. The privacy legislation is outdated. It has been under review for quite some time, and the current exemptions that apply to some small businesses, saying you don't need to comply with this, this, or this, they are going to be removed.
[00:03:51] And I've been saying this to my clients for at least 18 months. Get this in order. Make sure you have a compliant privacy policy [00:04:00] accessible via a link on the bottom of your homepage of your website and link to that in your Client service terms and conditions, your consent forms, whatever it is that you're doing in your business, make sure your clients know you've got that privacy policy so they can have trust that you know what you're doing and that you're not going to mishandle their data.
[00:04:19] Privacy is a big thing, particularly in this climate where more and more people are doing things online. And if you're anything like me, and even if you're not, you might be now after you hear this, one of the first things I do when I'm vetting a new business is I go to the bottom of their Home page of their website and I have a look for their privacy policy and their website terms and conditions and if they don't have them, I move on.
[00:04:42] I don't do business with them and the reason I move on is because they're saying to me either they don't know about the need to have these things or they don't care. And either way, that's not a business I'm interested in engaging. So there's that. But given the reviews that are currently underway with the privacy legislation, a lot of the exemptions to small business are being removed.
[00:05:03] So that means that the scope of compliance is broadening, which means if you're listening, you're probably going to be caught by this. So what that means is you need to know what your obligations are when it comes to privacy. The rules are getting stricter about what you can and can't collect about what you can and can't do with it.
[00:05:22] There are tougher penalties being introduced for breaches of this because people deserve to have their data protected. There's restrictions on what you can and can't do with the data. So know about this, understand whether your use of personal data is compliant or not and get it right. Start reviewing now.
[00:05:42] How do you collect personal data? What do you do with it? Where do you store it? And do you have a compliant privacy policy? This is something I work with a lot of clients on. If you need help with your privacy policy, please reach out. It's important that you don't buy a template unless you're a lawyer [00:06:00] and you know exactly what it is that you're looking for.
[00:06:02] You know exactly what it is that you need and you know how to use it. So, you hear me say on here a lot, DIY is for bunnings and not for your legals. This is no exception. The third change I want to touch on is the right to disconnect laws. Now, unless you're living under a rock, you will have heard about these somewhere from someone.
[00:06:23] So, the legislation has come into effect already for non small businesses, but for those of us who are small business, it comes into effect on August 26 this year, where employees have the legal right to refuse work related contact outside of hours if it is reasonable. I have vetted a lot of calls from nervous clients about this, thinking, Oh my goodness, I'm going to go to jail if an email gets sent to one of my employees, or if one of our clients contacts one of our employees, goodness gracious, what am I going to do?
[00:06:56] No one's going to jail. That's the first thing I want to say. You're not going to jail for that. The key here with the right to disconnect and what I want to say here is start having conversations with your team and start developing really clear policies for your business around what contact is expected after hours, if any, what is not expected and what is a reasonable expectation.
[00:07:21] Take steps to get everyone on the same page now. Talk about the expectations so that everybody is crystal clear what's expected of them. You can then of course update your client agreements to make sure that your clients know what's reasonable contact and what's not.
[00:07:37] The key here is reasonable and it really needs to be assessed on a case by case basis and I know how frustrating that can be to hear but when it comes to the law, it's not black and white. Very rarely ever is, but the key for the right to disconnect that I'd like you to take away from this episode is it is about what's reasonable and start having the conversation with your teams now to develop [00:08:00] a common understanding and crystal clear policies around those expectations.
[00:08:06] The next change applies to our lovely tax agent and BAS agent business owners out there. You already know all about this, but I just want to flag this for everybody so that you know we're aware of it. So if you are a tax agent or a BAS agent, you have stricter requirements from July 1 this year around record keeping and quality management and disclosures.
[00:08:31] Get across that, update your website, update your disclosures, update your client engagement letters and don't forget, there's now restrictions that you need to incorporate into your employment agreements with your team. So that's something else that you need to get onto so my best advice with all of these changes, because they're tricky, they're fiddly, they're long, make a list, start from the top.
[00:08:53] Sounds obvious, but sometimes overwhelm kicks in and I have had a few calls from tax agents seeking assistance with this because there's a lot of literature to read. Make a list, let's break it down and keep it simple. That's my advice on that. So the fifth legal change that I want to talk about is intended for my interior designers out there.
[00:09:15] If you are in construction or renovations, then you need to know about the complete ban on importing, manufacturing, supplying, and processing some engineered stone. So benchtops, panels, slabs, engineered stone, big red flag. There is a complete ban in place on some of that. So when you are doing your selections with your clients, you have a positive obligation now. You need to know what's banned, what's not, because if you are recommending something that your client's not authorised to use, that's actually negligence on your part so you need to be aware of these. Now, the very last piece of law I want to touch on, it's not new, but it is still new for many people and that [00:10:00] is the changes to unfair contract terms that came into place in November 23. When I say November 23, I think, gosh, that sounds like such a long time ago, but it's still new information for some business owners who are reaching out to me to have their existing contracts reviewed, particularly their client service contracts, because they don't know if they're legally compliant.
[00:10:20] To have a legally compliant contract, you need to comply with the consumer law, contract provisions, and you need to make sure that your contracts don't include unfair contract terms because part of those changes were that now, if a contract does include unfair contract terms, the whole thing can be set aside.
[00:10:38] So it's no longer just the clause, the unfair clause that's set aside, the whole thing can be set aside. That leaves you with nothing. The most common part of that law that I'm talking to people about relates to termination. And there are some contracts that simply do not have the right to terminate for no cause for consumers. That's a problem, it's likely to be deemed unfair. I just want to say that here. So everyone needs an exit strategy. That's one of my mottos is whenever we enter into anything in business, we need a clear exit strategy. When you're looking at your client service agreements, have a look at the very first thing to look at right now is what does it say in relation to termination?
[00:11:16] Is there a termination for breach and is there a no cause termination? There should be is my best tip here. If there's not, then that's one of the areas that's going to need review. So I flagged this now, not because it's a new change, but because it is a change that comes up regularly in my discussions with new clients.
[00:11:33] Because despite me being on here talking about it all the time, and over on Instagram, talking about these things all the time, some people still don't know and that's okay. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm sharing it. But unfair contract terms is significant and it is enforced so you need to be aware of those and you need to make sure that your contracts don't have any unfair contract terms.
[00:11:54] Those are the changes I wanted to share with you in this episode. So to recap, we've got [00:12:00] wage compliance. It's now a criminal offense to intentionally underpay. We've got privacy law, massive overhaul underway there. Know what your obligations are in relation to privacy. Have a compliant privacy policy.
[00:12:15] The third one was the right to disconnect. Start those conversations with your team sooner rather than later. The fourth was the changes in legislation for tax agents and BAS agents and the fifth I've shared was the industry specific engineered stone ban, which I'm really focusing on my interior design clients for that one.
[00:12:34] Now, as I'm doing with these episodes, after reaching episode 200, I'm now finishing the episodes with two questions that I've been asked recently, which I want to share with you because my thinking is if I've been asked by others, it may be a value to you too. So the first question that's come up this week comes up a lot.
[00:12:53] Tracy, where do I start? Where do I start with my legals? So, very simply, if you are a service based business owner, if you have a website, there are three core documents that you need to have in place. Your client service agreement, or the agreement you have with your clients, your website terms and conditions, and your privacy policy. They are the core trio.
[00:13:16] The most important document you will have in your business is your engagement letter, your T's and C's, your business T's and C's that you have in place with your clients. Get that right. It's so important. It can be so powerful when used well. There's no place for shortcuts with this.
[00:13:35] And the second question I wanted to share was, I was asked this week, I'm changed my offerings, can I use my existing T's and C's with my new offerings? Great question. And it'll come as no surprise when I say the answer is it depends. It depends on how similar the offerings are. It depends on how the original legals or T's and C's were developed, whether they were developed for a particular offering, whether they were [00:14:00] developed with the intention to evolve and grow.
[00:14:02] It just depends. So ask the question. Don't assume is what I really want you to take away. Always ask the question. One of the most important things we can do in business is surround ourselves with the right people. And hand on heart, I think a business lawyer and an accountant and a bookkeeper are your three really core people there that you need to be able to pick up the phone and ask the question.
[00:14:23] So if you're a client of mine, or you'd like to be, I'm the person to pick up the phone to, to ask that question and a client did this week. Hey, Tracey, I've changed my offering. I've got a new offering or this is what I'm doing, can I use my existing T's and C's on my existing legals, or do I need to amend them or do I need new ones?
[00:14:39] Ask the question and then, you know, I hope you have found this helpful. If you have a business friend that you think would benefit from this episode, particularly the changes to the law that you all need to know about, I would be so grateful if you would share, because that's how we together help the podcast get into the ears of even more business owners.
[00:14:56] Thank you so much for joining me. I'll catch you next time.
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