In the past, there was often no description of what you were expected to do in the workplace. Often the manager would just assign you a task to perform and this could be any type of work on a farm. This often resulted in devastating accidents as you were expected to work with dangerous equipment or chemicals and were not given the appropriate training. In the past, these systems lead to disagreements and even unfair dismissal.
There was never any system in place against which you could compare how you were performing in your work. This meant that it was very hard to get a promotion or develop your workplace skills, as the system did not allow for it.
Many farmworkers were employed on a day-to-day verbal agreement and could lose their jobs for many different reasons. They had no sense of loyalty to the workplace and it was not in their long-term interest to give their utmost. Fortunately, there is legislation in place to protect both the employee and employer.
A job description is a detailed description of the work an employer has assigned an employee. On a farm, this may include the worker’s specific tasks according to season.
Before a job description can be documented, the farmer has to do a job analysis; and can be best described by looking at the tasks involved in job analysis:
Once the job analysis has been completed, the objectives of the job can be developed. Job Objectives refer to the purpose of the job. It also refers to the result that is sought by initiating the job. In order to develop the job objective, management must identify the following:
The final step in developing a job description is defining the job specification.
Job Specification is the detail that describes the personal qualities required of the person in a specific job. In order to develop Job specifications management must identify the following:
Click here to view a video that explains job descriptions.
By law, you are obliged to enter into a written contract when appointing a worker on a permanent basis.
The following information should be included in such a document:
Law requires that you have a daily record of employee attendance. A basic system is required where employees can sign on for duty and sign off when they leave the premises. These documents can also be extremely helpful to support disciplinary action, overtime calculation and even to determine if an employee was on duty when injured!
An example of an attendance register has been placed in your personnel admin file.
Employers must give workers the following information in writing when they are paid: