Roubler resolves modern award headaches for retailers

Australia’s commitment to fair practice in the workplace has resulted in a unique challenge for employers navigating the modern award system, which sets out minimum terms of employment including rosters, allowances and pay. The complexities of modern awards all too frequently lead to non-compliance, which is often committed by well-meaning retailers whose systems and processes simply can’t cope. The result? Hefty fines for simple misinterpretations.

This common scenario is one that Roubler founder Andrew Northcott set out to resolve after experiencing the challenges of managing workforces first-hand. Northcott launched the all-in-one workforce management software company in 2016 with compliance at its core – and, after proving its effectiveness in Australian retail, has recently secured a significant investment from leading business software platform MYOB.

“The fact is, modern awards are complicated. Even Fair Work would tell you that compliance can come down to an interpretation,” says Northcott. “Basically, every business has to “interpret” awards for themselves, which leaves a huge amount of room for error. That’s where our technology comes in. The retail award is built in, along with checks and measures that ensure accuracy; it’s tried and tested, and proven by the retailers across Australia who are already using it.”

To help businesses using the platform remain in the clear, even when there are changes to awards, Roubler has worked closely with Fair Work, contributing to the team that is digitising award compliance processes Australia-wide. This consultation process will ultimately see Roubler have access to revisions to modern awards directly from Fair Work.

This builds on Roubler’s existing compliance features, including the ability to automatically apply changes across a business as soon as an award is updated. System administrators receive a notification as the award changes, and can roll out the update at the click of a button. With Roubler, managers are also alerted to potential non-compliance issues as they arise.

“A store manager isn’t going to understand the intricacies of modern awards – and nor should they have to. But this means that a simple decision made when creating a roster can easily result in a non-compliance issue they are totally unaware of,” says Northcott. “With Roubler, the relevant alerts are built-in, which means that every team member doesn’t have to be an expert.

“For example, if a manager rosters a team member on without the right length break, or rosters them on for too many consecutive days, they will be alerted. This takes the pressure off the managers who are building rosters day-to-day – and it gives head office the peace of mind that they’re going to be compliant in a way that can’t be overridden by the wrong person.”

Roubler’s technology has proven a welcome solution for many well-known brands, including WHSmith, Terry White Chemists and Guzman y Gomez. These businesses use Roubler to onboard, roster, manage and pay their teams – all while circumventing the risk of costly compliance blunders. With all workforce management data within the one system, much of the management of shift-based workforces is automated, clearing the way for leadership to focus on achieving the broader objectives of the business.

According to Northcott, system setup is also straightforward. “When you sign up, we will work with you to coach you through the process and help you understand the system,” he says. “Typically you can be up and running within a month. From that point on, a dedicated customer success manager will be available to you, and our support team is available 24-hours a day, five days a week, to help with any questions you may have.”

While the recent MYOB investment has already fast-tracked Roubler’s growth, potentially the most transformative evolution of Roubler’s software is expected to go live later this year. By overlaying the existing one-click smart roster feature with AI-driven insights into employee engagement and sales performance, the solution is set to optimise the rostering process far beyond the limitations of human capabilities.

“The results will be intelligent rosters the likes of which have never been seen before,” says Northcott. This will see Roubler providing a depth of insight and intelligence will influence the way many Australian retailers shape their workforces in years to come.

Want to find out more about Roubler’s modern award features and workforce management platform? Book a demo today.

This article first appeared on the Inside Retail website in June 2021.