Good Governance for Charities: the Board, the Team, the Money and Fundraising - 5 program webinar series

The Relationship Between the Board and the CEO in NFPs and Charities

Good governance requires the Board and CEO maintaining a successful and productive relationship to achieve the best decisions and outcomes. A breakdown in this relationship can significantly impact the organisation, stakeholders and the wider community. This session will explore some of the key elements of the Board/CEO relationship and highlight strategies for successfully team work and managing tensions, including:

• Key elements of successful Board and CEO relationships
• Recruitment due diligence - know what you are looking for
• Crafting a guiding position description
• Key contract terms for effective relationship management - performance indicators and reviews, dispute resolution and termination provisions
• Setting appropriate limits on delegations and authorisations
• Should the CEO have a seat at the Board table? Setting the limits between governance and management
• Communications protocols between the Board and the CEO
• Planning for performance reviews for CEOs
• When is it time for the CEO to go? Strategies for:
  • performance management
  • relationship breakdowns
  • dispute resolution
  • termination

Developments in Employment Law for NFPs and Charities

Organisations have an ongoing challenge in staying abreast of employment law and regulatory changes that impact their workforce. This session will examine recent developments and provide a guide to ensuring compliance, including:

• An update on the status of casual employees and their entitlements
• Can staff be terminated for speaking out critically against their employer? James Cook University v Ridd [2020] FCAFC 123
• Obligations on employers when a fixed term contract comes to an end
• An update on wage theft law reform and the Fair Work Ombudsman investigations
• Developments on portability of long service leave
• New industrial manslaughter laws
• Calculation of personal and carers’ leave after the High Court’s decision in Mondelez
• Developments in labour-hire arrangements and what that means for the NFP sector

Treading a Careful Path: Termination of Employment in NFPs and Charities

The need to terminate the employment of staff may arise in a variety of situations, and care needs to be taken to ensure this is done legally and sensitively with the impact on the workplace community fully considered. This session provides a guide to the processes for employee separation, including:

• In what circumstances can an employee’s employment be terminated? Understanding relevant awards and contractual provisions
• Whose decision? When should the Board be involved?
• Processes where alleged misconduct is involved - investigations and communications
• Treatment of older employees - avoiding age-based discrimination and unconscious bias
• Management of under-performers - conducting performance reviews and ongoing management
• When is redundancy appropriate?
• Record keeping essentials
• Managing disputes and complaints
• Dealing with the fall-out in the workplace

Financial Management Update for NFPs and Charities

This session will provide a guide and update on changes to the legislative and regulatory regime which impact on financial obligations of NFPs and charities, including:

• Details of the AASB framework for simplified disclosure commencing 2021
• AASB 15: applying revenue recognition to contracts
• How AASB 16 should be implemented: practical application of the leasing standards
• Proposed reforms for moving to Special Purpose Financial Statements for NFPs

Getting a Fair Share: Issues in Gift Giving to NFPs and Charities

An important source of funding for NFPs and charities is through donations in various ways, often by way of tax-deductible gift giving or through a bequest in a will. Recipient organisations need to be aware of developments in these areas to safeguard these important sources of funding. This session will provide and update on legal issues affecting both types of gift, including:

• Gifts inter vivos (during life time):
  • what types of gift are tax deductible?
  • can the gift giver receive a benefit from the donee?
  • how will proposed reforms to DGR status impact NFPs?
  • what will a NFP need to do to continue to attract tax deductibility for its donors?
• Bequests to NFPs and charities under a will:
  • what can go wrong: case examples including Re Graham (deceased) [2020] QSC 27; Re estate of the late Stasha Berger [2020] NSWSC 750; Banwell V Attorney-General (Qld) [2020] QSC 239
  • advice to give potential donors about bequests:
  • avoiding conflicts of interest and undue influence
  • contesting and defending gifts in wills: ethical, costs and reputational considerations