HR compliance · Australia-wide

No HR Policies? Here Is What That Means for Your Business

Workplace Foundations gives your business a complete HR framework: employment contracts, policies, and procedures built for your industry and your obligations. Or call Daniel on 1300 23 44 23 to talk through your situation first.

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Founder

Daniel Holbrook

MBA · AHRI Member · Cert IV WHS

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The compliance reality

What "No HR Policies" Actually Means

You have employees and have been hiring, managing, and running your business for years, but you have never documented formal HR policies, employment contracts, or workplace procedures. You may not even be certain what is legally required of you as an employer. Many growing businesses operate without an HR department, and trying to navigate HR obligations without formal documentation is one of the most common situations Daniel Holbrook encounters when business owners engage Brookvale HR Solutions for the first time.

How Brookvale HR Solutions helps

Brookvale HR Solutions works directly with business owners and managers to build compliant HR frameworks from the ground up: employment contracts, workplace policies, procedures, and an employee handbook tailored to your industry, your modern award, and your obligations under the Fair Work Act and relevant work health and safety legislation. Daniel personally reviews your current state, identifies every gap, and builds what your business actually needs. Not a generic template suite. A working HR framework built for your workplace.

Since December 2022

Sex Discrimination Act positive duty

The Australian Human Rights Commission can now initiate compliance proceedings even without a formal complaint being lodged. Sex Discrimination Act positive duty .

Right to Disconnect

Effective 26 August 2024 / 2025

Came into effect on 26 August 2024 for employers with 15+ employees, and on 26 August 2025 for small businesses.

Wage theft — criminal offence

Effective 1 January 2025

Intentional underpayment is a criminal offence under amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009. Up to 10 years imprisonment for individuals.

Where the gap typically sits

You Have Employees but No Formal Workplace Policies or Procedures

Workplace expectations are communicated verbally. Leave is managed informally. Performance conversations happen when they have to, not as part of a documented process. It works until it does not. The moment an employee raises a formal complaint, lodges a Fair Work claim, questions their entitlements, or challenges a decision you have made about their employment, the absence of documented workplace policies and procedures becomes a serious liability.

Without a written complaint handling process, you cannot demonstrate compliance with your positive duty obligations. Without employment contracts that correctly reflect the applicable modern award, you may not be able to prove what was agreed or that the employee is being paid correctly. Without a code of conduct, you have no documented standard against which to measure workplace behaviour. Without a formal performance management framework, any termination decision is vulnerable to challenge.

What Australian Law Requires from Every Australian Employer

Not every human resources policy is a legal requirement. Understanding the distinction between what is mandatory, what is effectively mandatory, and what is best practice helps you identify the essential HR policies your business needs and where the most significant compliance gaps are likely to exist.

Legally Required

Legally required documents include the Fair Work Information Statement, which must be provided to every new employee before or as soon as practicable after commencement of employment. Employment contracts that comply with the National Employment Standards and the relevant modern award or enterprise agreement are essential for every employee. The National Employment Standards set out minimum entitlements including maximum weekly work hours, requests for flexible work arrangements, parental leave, annual leave, personal and carer's leave, community service leave, long service leave, public holidays, notice of termination, and redundancy pay.

Effectively Mandatory

Effectively mandatory policies include a bullying and harassment policy with a documented complaint handling procedure. Under positive duty obligations, an employer who cannot demonstrate proactive steps to prevent harassment, bullying, and discrimination faces regulatory action. A psychosocial safety policy or risk management framework is required under WHS codes of practice that have been adopted across Australian jurisdictions. Procedures for managing flexible work arrangements requests are also needed under the Fair Work Act. These are not technically prescribed in a single statute, but failing to have them leaves an employer unable to demonstrate compliance with existing legislative duties that apply to employers and employees across every industry.

Best Practice

Best practice policies that are strongly recommended include an employee code of conduct that sets clear expectations for workplace behaviour, leave policies that clearly document how National Employment Standards entitlements are requested, approved, and managed, a workplace health and safety policy that reflects the employer's duties under WHS legislation, and social media and technology acceptable use policies. These are policies that protect the employer by creating clear, documented expectations for employee conduct and providing a defensible basis for management decisions. Effective HR policies safeguard your business against claims and help ensure your policies remain current.

Identify the gaps

The HR Compliance Audit is a structured review of your employment framework, covering contracts, policies, compliance, and workplace health and safety obligations.

Compliance Gap Map

Structured review of your existing employment framework against current Australian employment legislation.
Risk-Prioritised Recommendations

Every gap identified, prioritised by exposure, with practical remediation actions.
Roadmap to Remediation

A clear sequence to close gaps and build the documentation framework your business needs.

HR Compliance Audit starts from $1,500 + GST.

1300 23 44 23 View HR Compliance Audit

Templates are not a solution

The Real Risk of Off-the-Shelf HR Policy Templates

Templates sourced from the internet are rarely written against current Australian employment legislation, never tailored to a specific industry or modern award, and frequently contain clauses that are unenforceable under the Fair Work Act or contradict the National Employment Standards.

The business believes it is covered; in a Fair Work Commission hearing, the documentation would not survive the first cross-examination.

Every document Brookvale HR Solutions produces reflects your actual operations, your award obligations, your industry requirements, and the legislation that applies to your specific work environment. Daniel builds policies that work in practice, not documents that sit in a drawer. Australian employers need policies and procedures in place that reflect how the business actually operates, not what a generic template assumes every business should have in place.

Highest-exposure gaps

Workplace Compliance and Health and Safety Gaps That Create the Most Exposure

Three areas consistently create the highest legal risk for Australian employers operating without formal HR policies and procedures.

No Complaint Handling Procedure

Without a documented complaint handling procedure, employers cannot show compliance with positive duty obligations if the AHRC, a WHS regulator, or the Fair Work Commission requests evidence. The complaint does not need to come from an employee. A regulator can initiate proceedings independently.

Missing or Incorrect Employment Contracts

Without written contracts correctly classifying each employee under the relevant modern award, employers face underpayment exposure. Penalties can include uplifts of up to three times the underpayment, six-year back-pay obligations, and from 1 January 2025, criminal penalties for intentional underpayment.

No Psychosocial Hazard Framework

WHS legislation requires employers to identify and control psychosocial risks so far as is reasonably practicable. Officers (including directors, partners, and business owners) carry personal due diligence duties that cannot be delegated. Without a documented framework, the business has no evidence of having met these obligations.

The cost of no documentation

What Happens When Something Goes Wrong Without HR Policies and Procedures

The absence of documentation weakens the employer's position and increases the likelihood of an adverse outcome at every stage. Six exposures recur across the matters Daniel sees.

Unfair dismissal claim — no performance trail

Without documented performance management, the employer cannot show the employee was warned and given a genuine opportunity to improve.

Bullying complaint — no procedure

No formal complaint handling procedure to follow, no investigation framework to apply, no documented record of the response.

Underpayment claim — no contracts

No employment contracts to reference against the relevant modern award; backpay obligations stretch six years.

Workers compensation psych injury claim

No psychosocial risk assessment, no health and safety policy, no evidence of proactive steps to manage the work environment.

Adverse action under general protections

Termination decisions challenged as adverse action carry uncapped damages and a reverse onus of proof.

AHRC compliance examination

The Australian Human Rights Commission can initiate compliance proceedings independently, with no employee complaint needed.

If any of the above scenarios sounds familiar, the HR Compliance Audit is the fastest way to identify your actual exposure. $1,500 + GST, fully credited toward any follow-on work. Call Daniel on 1300 23 44 23.

Diagnostic entry

Find the gaps before they become claims

A 15-point structured review of your contracts, policies, and operational processes against current Australian employment legislation. The fee is fully credited toward any follow-on work.

View HR Compliance Audit

Building the framework

Building Your Growing Business HR Framework the Right Way

The HR Compliance Audit identifies every compliance gap and provides a prioritised roadmap. The $1,500 audit fee is fully credited toward any follow-on work, including building your policy framework.

When you engage Brookvale HR Solutions, Daniel conducts a full review of your current documentation, employment contracts, and workplace HR practices against legislative requirements and industry best practice. Read more about Daniel's approach on the About page.

MBA
Cert IV Government Investigations
Cert IV WHS
AHRI Member
Former Military Police Officer

Daniel has built HR frameworks for businesses across dozens of industries, and every engagement is delivered directly by him. There are no junior consultants, no handoffs to someone unfamiliar with your situation, and no lock-in contracts. The work is delivered on a fixed-fee basis, so you know the cost before you commit. The Workplace Foundations Package provides a complete HR framework, employment contracts, a full workplace policy suite, an employee handbook, and implementation guidance, built against your industry, your modern award, and your obligations.

Client review

What clients say about working with Daniel

★★★★★ 5.0

Verified Google review

“We recently worked with Brookvale HR Solutions to conduct a full HR audit, implement a new HR and safety policy suite, and resolve a difficult employee performance issue. Dan made the whole process straightforward, gave very practical advice, and ensured we were compliant at every step. We're now much clearer and more confident in how we manage our team, and we feel our HR and safety foundations are in a much stronger position. We will continue working with Dan and the team for all our HR needs and highly recommend them to any business needing HR support.”

L

Linton Chataway

Google Review

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions About HR Policies for Australian Employers

Common questions on what is required, what is best practice, and how to build a framework that protects your business.

Still have a question?

Call Daniel on 1300 23 44 23

What HR policies does a small business in Australia need?

Australian employers have compliance obligations across multiple areas of law from the moment they hire their first employee. These include:

employment contracts that reflect the relevant modern award
the Fair Work Information Statement
workplace health and safety duties including psychosocial hazard management
positive duty obligations
pay slip and record-keeping requirements
superannuation compliance
workers compensation insurance

Beyond these legislative requirements, policies covering bullying and harassment, complaint handling, leave management, and workplace behaviour are effectively essential for any employer to demonstrate compliance and manage risk. The specific policies every business should have in place depend on your industry, your modern award, and the nature of the work.

Do workplace policies and procedures have to be in writing?

There is no single statute that requires every policy to be in a written document. However, written policies are effectively essential. An employer who cannot produce documented policies and procedures during a Fair Work Commission hearing, a WHS regulator inquiry, or an Australian Human Rights Commission investigation will struggle to demonstrate compliance. Written policies also provide the defensible basis for management decisions about employee conduct, performance, and termination.

What is HR compliance?

HR compliance means ensuring your business meets its obligations under Australian employment law, including:

the Fair Work Act
the National Employment Standards
relevant modern awards
work health and safety legislation
anti-discrimination law

For an Australian employer, HR compliance covers everything from paying employees correctly and providing the right entitlements to maintaining safe working conditions and having effective HR policies that address workplace behaviour, complaints, and performance management.

Who is responsible for workplace policies and procedures?

The employer is responsible for establishing and maintaining workplace policies and procedures. Under WHS legislation, officers of a business, including directors, partners, and business owners who participate in decisions affecting the whole or a substantial part of the business, have personal due diligence duties that cannot be delegated. This means the responsibility for ensuring your business has compliant HR policies sits with you as the business owner, regardless of whether you have an HR manager or HR department. Engaging HR experts like Brookvale HR Solutions ensures your policies are built correctly and meet current legislative requirements.

What happens if a growing business has no HR policies?

Without documented HR policies, a growing business is exposed to compliance risk across multiple areas of employment law. If an employee lodges an unfair dismissal claim, a bullying complaint, or an underpayment claim, the absence of written policies weakens the employer's position. Regulators including the Fair Work Commission and the Australian Human Rights Commission can request evidence of your compliance framework. Policies can help establish the documented standards your business needs to defend its decisions and demonstrate it has met its obligations under the Fair Work Act and WHS legislation.

Connected compliance gaps

Connected Compliance Gaps

Wage compliance

Paying Correctly?

Without correct employment contracts and award classifications, underpayment risk increases significantly. Entitlement calculations depend on correct award coverage, and since wage theft became a criminal offence in January 2025, this exposure cannot be left unaddressed.

View Paying Correctly?

WHS exposure

Psychosocial Risks

Employers without documented workplace policies are unlikely to have identified and assessed psychosocial hazards in their work environment. Under WHS legislation, managing psychosocial risks is a compliance obligation with personal liability for officers and directors.

View Psychosocial Risks

Next step

An HR Framework Doesn't Build Itself. Let's Start with an Audit.

Book a free 30-minute strategy call with Daniel to discuss your situation. Call 1300 23 44 23 or book online via Calendly.

Book a 30-minute strategy call Or call Daniel on 1300 23 44 23