Thank you for taking a proactive approach by engaging Health Industry Employment Services (ACN 160 385 633) to provide human resources and workplace relations support and services to you and your business in exchange for payment of the Fees.

Acceptance of Terms & Conditions

By clicking “Yes” on the HIES membership registration form contained on our website, you are agreeing to the below terms and conditions and provision of services by Health Industry Employment Services (HIES) to you. A contractual arrangement that is legally binding on the parties will apply once you “Submit” the membership registration from and payment is received by HIES from you or you complete an offline order form.

Where the parties agree orally to the provision of Membership Services by HIES to the Member, the contract will be legally binding on the date of our oral agreement.

Record Keeping

HIES is all about best practice, so we encourage you to keep a copy of these terms and conditions for your own records. Keep in mind though, that from time to time they can change at our discretion.

Got Questions?

Please contact HIES if you have any questions about these terms and conditions. Our contact details can be found on our website.

Terms & Conditions

Item Variable  
1.         Parties Member means the Practice Name and entity connected to the ABN provided in the membership registration form, whose address for service of notices (including email) is in the membership registration form. (Referred to in this agreement as you, your or Client.)

Health Industry Employment Services whose address for service is listed on the Contact Us page of our website is the service provider. (Referred to in this agreement as HIES, we or us.)

2.         Services Services provided by HIES to the Member and Client are those agreed to by the parties and can include, but are not limited to:

·         Work, support and products described in various Membership Levels described on the HIES website and promotional material (refer to Membership Services below)

·         Reviewing and drafting documents eg. contracts, policies and procedures, workplace handbooks, Employee Lifecyle Templates, forms

·         customised training and webinars

·         on request advice, support and services

·         Pulse Check In & Check Up

Refer below to Exclusions – General and Exclusions – Outsourced Matters for work that falls outside the scope of general services.

3.         Commencement Date is the date you “Submit” the membership registration form or upgrade Membership Services, or another date as mutually agreed in writing with HIES.
4.         Duration The duration of this engagement is for:

·         A minimum 18 month term for any membership type upon joining HIES for the first time and/or when you upgrade Membership Services. Your membership is a recurring monthly payment even after this period.

Otherwise

·         Ongoing, with no locked in duration, until otherwise cancelled in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

5.         Automatic recurring renewal At the completion of the minimum 18 month term, your HIES membership will be on an automatic recurring renewal basis at the Membership Level selected at the time of registration.

We will send you an email reminder of this automatic recurring renewal arrangement prior to the completion of the 18 month term (if applicable).

6.         Membership Services is the HIES Membership Level you nominated on the membership registration form (regardless of whether you are paying monthly or annually). These Membership Services will be provided by HIES to the Member for the period of the Duration

Some examples of the HIES Membership Levels are Core, Compliance, HR Outsourcing etc.

HIES provides its support and services on an as instructed basis. Unless otherwise stated, it is your responsibility to send a written request to HIES, requesting the performance of certain services included in your Membership Level.

We will normally start providing Membership Services to you straight away or on a date agreed between us without further discussion with you.

Our aim is to always provide you with Membership Services and services and support generally:

·                     using reasonable care and skill

·                     in compliance with commonly accepted practises and standards in the area of human resource and workplace relations; and

·                     in compliance with relevant employment laws, regulations and industrial instruments in force at the time we are performing the Membership Services.

If you ask us to complete additional or other work beyond the scope of your selected Membership Level and Services, you can upgrade your Membership Level and Services accordingly, or we will advise you that such work falls outside the scope of your Membership Services and that performance of such work will be additional charges.

7.         Upgrading Membership Services You can upgrade your HIES Membership Level and Membership Services at any time.

If you choose to upgrade your membership, a new Commencement Date will come into effect and new 18-month minimum term will apply. No pro-rata upgrades apply.

8.         Unused Membership Services

 

Unless otherwise agreed to by HIES, any unused Membership Services (eg. visits, training, consulting hours, access to documentation etc) cannot be carried forward to future years, credited or exchanged for cash.
9.         Confidentiality

 

The information and instructions you provide to us will be kept confidential except as required by law or otherwise authorised by you.
10.      Benefit of our support, services & advice The support, services and advice we provide to you is for your benefit only.  Our support, services and advice may not be relied on by another person; may not be filed with a governmental or other agency or quoted or referred to in a public document; and is limited by the matters stated in our advice and does not apply to other matters by implication.  We will not notify you of any changes to the law which are made after the date of our advice unless you specifically ask us to do so.
11.      How we charge for our support & services Unless otherwise agreed in writing, our fees and charges are payable in full, in advance.

The Member agrees to pay HIES the Fees on the basis selected at the time of completing the membership registration form and the relevant Duration.

Where the Member selects to pay Fees annually, they agree to pay the entire annual amount upfront at the time of submitting the membership registration form.

12.      Fees The total fee for Membership Services is per the Annual amount stated for the Membership Level you selected when completing the membership registration form.

HIES reserves the right to increase Fees at its discretion. Where this occurs Members will be advised and the new Fee structure will apply from the relevant effective date unless an alternate arrangement is agreed to in writing between HIES and the Member.

13.      Consulting Fees In addition to Fees, you may be required to pay Consulting Fees where HIES undertakes or provides work which fall outside of the scope of your Membership Services. HIES will inform you

Unless another amount is agreed to by HIES in writing, we will charge Members the following Consulting Fees per hour of work performed:

·              $440 (excluding GST) for Non-Members

·              $225 (excluding GST) for HIES Members

HIES reserves the right to increase Consulting Fees at its discretion. Where this occurs Members will be advised, and the new fee structure will apply from the relevant effective date unless an alternate arrangement is agreed to in writing between HIES and the Member.

14.      GST

 

Our fees and expenses are exclusive of GST.  You must pay GST listed on our fees and, where applicable, expenses incurred on your behalf.  The amount of GST payable will be included in our accounts which will be issued in the form of a tax invoice.
15.      Billing, payments & failure to make payments You will receive a tax invoice for our fees, expenses and GST. An invoice will be provided to you for the agreed fees after you complete the online membership sign up form.

Unless otherwise agreed, you request and consent to receiving bills from us by email sent to your usual email address and must pay our tax invoices within 7 days of receipt.

A credit card surcharge has been included in the membership fees and will cover the administrative cost imposed on Health Industry Employment Services and the surcharge by its financial institution.

If you prefer to pay by direct deposit, please contact Health Industry Employment Services directly [email protected]

Payment of invoices must be made within 7 days from the date the invoice has been raised.

If your tax invoice becomes overdue (and you have not agreed a payment plan with us) we may do any of the following:

·         stop providing services to you

·         terminate this Agreement

·         charge interest on any amount outstanding for 30 days at the Cash Target Rate, as at the date our bill was given to you, increased by 2 percentage points. The Cash Target Rate means the percentage (or maximum percentage) stated by the Reserve Bank of Australia as the Cash Target Rate and is a benchmark rate of interest

·         take action to recover the amount owing plus interest

·         take legal action to recover the debt owed and an early termination fee of 30% of the remaining contract balance; and

·         except as required by law, retain your documents and any money that we hold until your account has been paid in full.

If you fail to make a payment and the total amount remains unpaid for 90 days, we may pursue recovery of the debt.

The above rights survive termination of this Agreement.

16.      Pulse Check In & Check Up

 

If you have Pulse Check In & Check Ups as part of your Membership Services, we will schedule these meetings during initial discussions with you. If you are unable to attend a scheduled meeting, we will attempt to reschedule the meeting to an alternate mutually convenient day and time. Should you be unable to attend the rescheduled meeting then you agree to forgo the meeting without any recourse to HIES.

Pulse Check In & Check Ups may be conducted electronically, over the phone or in person depending on your location, and at the discretion of HIES.

    
18.      Contract Review 

 

Where a contract review forms part of the services provided, we will review selected copies of your existing employment contracts. Based on the information provided, a report will be provided to you highlighting key deficiencies in the contract and recommendations as a guidance only. The contact review report may be separate or form part of a larger report. It should not be considered as a complete list of all issues that may be present in their reviewed contracts. Accordingly HIES will not accept, and you release and indemnify HIES from any liability for losses of any kind resulting from the use of, or reliance upon, any information contained in the report.

The award or agreement used for the review will be that advised by you, and we take no responsibility for the accuracy of the coverage of the employee under the award or agreement provided.

19.      Exclusions – General HIES is here to support your business, however there are a few exclusions to the Membership Levels, Membership Services and HIES services generally.

The following services fall outside of the scope of Membership Services and can be provided to you at an additional cost or referred to a third party:

·         Instrument drafting, including bargaining and drafting Certified Agreements

·         Reviewing, advice and drafting commercial agreements and matters (eg. service agreements with doctors, lease agreements)

·         Recruitment

·         Work completed outside of the nominated consulting hours as described in respective Membership Level and Membership Services

·         Work to be undertaken that falls outside the scope of the Membership Level and Membership Services you selected.

·         Representation at arbitration, conciliation or hearings

·         legal representation & advice

·         taxation and other matters outside of our scope of knowledge & expertise

·         HIES travel.

Other matters as set out by HIES from time to time.

20.      Exclusions – Outsourced Matters The following services will be the subject of referral to a specialist:

·         Legal Advice

·         Financial Advice

·         Accounting Advice

·         Bookkeeping Advice

·         Privacy & Cyber Security

·         Information Technology recommendations

As a client of HIES, you may qualify for a discount with the third party partner providers.  Please ask for details.

21.      Assignment HIES as the service provider may delegate, assign, novate and/or subcontract any obligations and Services under this Agreement to any person or third party without the Client’s consent.
22.      Documents prepared by HIES & changes made to our documents Where HIES provides you with documents, including template documents, (eg. employment contract, letters, policies, and procedures etc) you acknowledge that these documents as provided meet the requirements of any relevant industrial instrument and legislation at the time they are provided to you.

Where you change the documents without requesting advice from us, you acknowledge and agree that the document may no longer meet legal requirements or provide sufficient protection to you and/or the business.

We do not accept any responsibility for updates or changes to documentation made by you, your employees or a third party, after the date when the documentation is first made available to you.

To the extent permissible by law, HIES accepts no liability and is not liable for any loss or damaged caused as a result of changes made by anyone other a member of the HIES team, or unless such changes have been reviewed and approved by HIES.

23.      Authority to publicise

 

Unless you direct otherwise, we may publicise our engagement and working relationship.
24.      Copyright You agree that you will not reproduce or use for any other purpose any of the documentation that we send you. The copyright in documents and advice prepared by us remains our property unless otherwise agreed.
25.      Travel by HIES Any travel required to be undertaken by the HIES team is not included in the Membership Services.  Any travel which you may require a member of the HIES team to perform must be discussed prior to HIES undertaking the travel.

The following approval process will apply to air travel and accommodation required to be performed by a HIES team member:

(a)     you must request a member of the HIES team to undertake air travel

(b)     HIES will advise you of the flight options it considers reasonable in terms of timing and cost

(c)     if accommodation is required, HIES will advise you of the accommodation options it considers reasonable in terms of location, cost and availability of business facilities (eg. WIFI, printing services)

(d)     you must respond to HIES as soon as practicable, to advise of your preferred flight in terms of timing and cost

(e)     if accommodation is required, you must select from the options presented to you by HIES as soon as practicable

(f)      air travel and accommodation will not be booked until it has been agreed in writing by you and HIES.

HIES will not be responsible for any increase in fares by the airline, or room rates by an accommodation provider.  It is your responsibility to respond as soon as practicable so to avoid a third party increase in airfares or accommodation.

A $60 per day meal and minor transport allowance fee applies for each full day the HIES team member is required to be away from Brisbane.

26.      Member & Client details You agree to keeping us informed of any changes to your business name, company details, contact email addresses and telephone numbers for your primary contact named nominated in the membership registration form, as this email address will be used by us for all important messages relating to this Agreement including invoices and renewal notice reminders. You also agree to update us if there are any changes to nominated staff within your business authorised to contact us.

You confirm that all the information you have provided is true and accurate in every respect and that no material fact has been misstated or not given.

HIES has the right to use member and client case study examples for education purposes, such as sharing examples at events or to further educate members/clients. HIES will ensure any client stories or case study examples are de-identified to maintain client/member privacy.

27.      Communication & Materials You can always communicate with us by telephone, email or another agreed electronic platform.

You consent to receive all communication relating to your selected Membership Services in electronic format, and by giving this consent, we are no longer required to send you notices or other documents in paper form unless you specifically request it.

You agree to provide us with any necessary and requested materials to enable us to perform the Membership Services along with other services and work you engage us to perform.

You confirm that all the information you have provided is true and accurate in every respect and that no material fact has been misstated or not given.

Where your selected Membership Level is HR Outsourcing, you agree to keep us informed and promptly updated about all employment and workplace matters relating to your current employees, and any other matters relating to former employees that may result in potential claims or actual claims against the business.

28.      Electronic documents and retention of your file

 

You authorise us to create an electronic copy of any documents we hold in hard copy form regarding your matter.  You also authorise us to destroy each hardcopy document we have copied electronically.

We may collect, collate and retain copies of your documents for our own records.

29.      Privacy We have reasonable steps in place to comply with the Privacy Act 1988(Cth) to protect your privacy.  By entering into this Agreement you warrant that you have obtained the appropriate consents and authorities for any information you provide to us.

In respect of this information, you consent to us using it to provide you with support on your behalf; to instruct third parties relevant to your circumstance (such as accountants, lawyers, bookkeepers etc); to send you material which we consider may be of interest to you; to otherwise market and promote our services to you; and to protect our lawful interests.

You may request access to any of your personal information that we hold.  For further information, contact George Sotiris directly on 0408 078 091 or at [email protected].

30.      Times when HIES ordinarily provides its services & support & Timeframes for completing work HIES typically provides services and support to Members and Clients during normal working days and start work no earlier than 8:30 AM and finish work no later than 5:30 PM. A normal working day for us means Monday to Friday, excluding any bank or other national holidays. The performance of some of support and services may take place outside of our normal working days.

Different Membership Levels require HIES to carry out certain tasks, such as training, workplace foundation and employment reviews or contract reviews. HIES provides its support and services on an as instructed basis. Unless otherwise stated, it is your responsibility to send a written request to HIES, requesting the performance of certain services included in your Membership Level.

If timeframes and deadlines are not recorded, please ensure they are communicated to us at the earliest opportunity.

31.      Access to HIES Member Portal Depending on the services provided by us, you may have access to a client portal where you can access and/or purchase HIES products. The HIES portal is a software platform used by us and is a third party provider of employee management, CRM and documentation software. We are authorised to give clients access to a client portal within the Action Step platform subject to our licensing arrangements with Action Step, a company incorporated in New Zealand. We will support you in accessing and using the client portal. All issues relating to the functionality of the software must be raised with Action Step directly. You will inform us in writing (including email) should you need assistance directly from Action Step.
32.      Dispute resolution & mediation 

 

If a dispute arises out of or relates to the terms of this Agreement, either party may not commence any legal proceedings in relation to the dispute unless the party claiming a dispute (Dispute) has arisen gives the other party written notice (Notice) detailing:

·         the nature of the dispute;

·         the desired outcome; and

·         the action required to settle the dispute.

On receipt of the Notice by the other party, the parties to this Agreement must within 7 days of the Notice endeavour in good faith to resolve the Dispute expeditiously by negotiation or such other means upon which they may mutually agree.

If for any reason whatsoever, 21 days after the date of the Notice, the Dispute has not been resolved the Parties must either agree upon selection of a mediator or where agreement cannot be reach, an appropriate mediator be appointed by HIES, and the parties agree to attend a mediation. The mediation will be held electronically, or in person in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia unless an alternate location is mutually agreed between the parties.

The Parties are equally liable for the fees and reasonable expenses of a mediator and the cost of the venue of the mediation and without limiting the foregoing, undertake to pay any amounts requested by the mediator as a pre-condition to the mediation commencing. The Parties must each pay their own costs associated with the mediation.

All communications concerning negotiations made by the Parties arising out of and in connection with this dispute resolution clause are confidential and to the fullest extent possible, must be treated as “without prejudice” negotiations.

The parties will promptly action all agreed recommendations and terms of settlement agreed to during the mediation (Terms of Settlement). Where a party fails to satisfy the Terms of Settlement, the other party may institute legal proceedings concerning the subject matter of the Dispute.

In the event that the Dispute is not resolved at the conclusion of the mediation, either party may institute legal proceedings concerning the subject matter of the Dispute thereafter.

33.      Ending the engagement between HIES & the Member or Client   You can end this agreement and the provision of Membership Services at any time after the first 18 month period by giving us 4 weeks written notice telling us that you want us to stop providing services to you.

You are still required to pay the applicable Fees, expenses and GST up to the time you tell us to stop and during the notice period.

Cancellations must in writing and sent to [email protected] or our address for services.

If you elect to terminate this agreement and your selected Membership Services at any time during the 18 month duration:

·         you will not be entitled to any refund of fees already paid to us; and

·         you will be liable to pay the excess amount between the cost of any documentation you have accessed and/or has been provided to you by us and the fees you have already paid to us; and

·         you may be liable to pay an early termination fee of 30% of the remaining contract balance.

HIES also has the right to stop providing services to you and end the engagement if you do not do any of the following:

·         pay our tax invoices within the agreed period for payment

·         comply with these terms

·         provide us with adequate instructions within a reasonable time

·         accept advice we give you

·         comply with a reasonable request we make, including paying money on account of anticipated costs and expenses

·         or if we consider there is another just cause.

We will provide you 4 weeks’ notice in writing of any decision to discontinue and end our engagement.

34.      No partnership or agency 

 

Nothing contained or implied in this Agreement creates or constitutes, or is to be deemed to create or constitute, a partnership between the parties. A party must not act, represent or hold itself out as having authority to act as the agent of or in any way bind or commit the other parties to any obligation.
35.      Changes to Terms & Membership Services

 

The parties can mutually agree to vary the terms and Membership Services inclusions and/or construction. Variations must be agreed in writing, including email.

HIES reserves the right to change our standard terms from time to time. If we do change our standard terms, the terms will be no less favourable to these terms and we will notify you by email within a reasonable timeframe before any changes take effect. You can notify us before the changes take effect if you would prefer to remain on your existing terms.

36.      Laws & Jurisdiction 

 

The law of Queensland applies to this Agreement.

In the event of any dispute arising out of or in relation to the Services, the parties agree that the exclusive venue for resolving any dispute shall be in the courts of Australia, situated in Queensland, Australia.

37.      Severance Any provision of this Agreement, which is prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction will, as to such jurisdiction, be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without invalidating the remaining provisions of this Agreement or affecting the validity or enforceability of such provisions in any other jurisdiction.
38.      Entire agreement 

 

The Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersede and override all previous communications, either oral or written, between the parties.

If for whatever reason there is inconsistency between this Agreement and any other agreement, this Agreement shall prevail.