The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has recently released updated guidelines for employers on how to ensure advertisements for jobs in their businesses do not lead them to breach Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
For those more used to the provisions of the Trade Practices Act in regulating this area, the ACL are part of the legislation that replaced it in 2010, the Competition and Consumer Act. While the Act may have changed names, the obligations remain for employers to ensure they do not mislead job applicants with advertisements that do not accurately set out the terms and opportunities pertaining to positions they are recruiting for.
Employers need to be sure their job advertisements correctly set out the remunerations, the type of employment ie permanent, casual, contractor, etc, the work conditions, future prospects – all without exaggeration, or face penalties of over $1.0 million.
For a copy of the new guidelines go to: http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/715525
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