Employing staff

Not-for-profit sporting organisations have the same legal obligations as any employer to their workers. There is a lot of information available on employment law, but it can be hard to know what is useful and where to start - especially when you have a question you need addressed urgently.

Undertaking recruitment is an important step when deciding to employ someone, requiring you to determine what you want the employee to do and what skills you require from them. 

Also consider:

• employment conditions and entitlements
• level of pay, often based on employee awards and agreements
• other costs of employment, including skills and training needs, new equipment and facilities
• offering flexible work arrangements.

Before you decide to advertise the job, prepare a job description that defines the responsibilities and functions of the job. This will help you identify the knowledge, experience and skills required for the job as well as the interview questions you might ask.

More information

Your state or national body is a good first port of call to assist you with advice on hiring staff, however there are also many useful resources available:

• Not-for-profit Law – The people involved 
• Australian Government – Information to help business - People
• Fair Work Australia – Employer/employee helpline
• Our Community - Why investing in your NFP workforce is critical to your culture
• Sport Australia - Club development workforce resources.
• Play by the Rules has useful resources on volunteers, risk management, child protection, harassment and complaints management.
• The Clearinghouse for Sport connects sports people to a world of ideas, experience and knowledge.