Four out of five small businesses in Australia say they’re not ready for the introduction of the new workplace laws, many of which come into effect on 1 July this year.

The survey, by AMR Interactive research, was commissioned by Telstra Business ahead of today’s launch of its new T-Suite online software service, which features an Australian-designed employment management service called Workforce Guardian.

Of the small business owners surveyed, the majority - 76 per cent - were aware of the proposed changes to the industrial relations laws, but  over half of all businesses (57 per cent) were either “somewhat” or “very” concerned about the proposed changes, and close to half (46%) currently have no systems in place to manage the new laws.

Deena Shiff, Telstra business group managing director, Deena Shiff, said today that “the costs for small businesses, in ensuring their human resources practices remain compliant with the legislation, can be high, particularly when many don’t have proper systems and processes in place to ensure compliance with the new laws.”

Shiff, who launched the T-Suite software service, said Workforce Guardian was just one of the many software tools now available to small businesses to help them manage their day-to-day processes more efficiently.

Workforce Guardian managing director, Adrienne Unkovich, urged small businesses to seek advice and information if they were unsure about their obligations under the new laws.

According to Unkovich, with unfair dismissal rules coming into effect  from 1 July, and national employment standards and modern awards from 1 January next year, “time poor and resource constrained small businesses are best advised to automate their HR processes as quickly as possible or seek advice from their business advisor.”

Unkovich said that while most SMEs are aware the laws are changing, most are struggling with what the changes mean for their business and how they can manage the risk given that fines and remedies are the same for small business as for big business.

From today, SMEs can log onto www.telstra.com/T-SUITE to access Workforce Guardian, generate employment agreements and manage hiring, performance and termination issues.