What is happening in the world of HR for small businesses?
Strawberry Seed’s Christmas Shutdown
Strawberry Seed will be taking a very well-earned break over Christmas and the New Year. Our last full day in the office is Friday, 19 December 2025, and we will be back on deck Monday, 5 January 2026. We are also clocking off at midday on Monday, 22 December, for our annual team lunch and celebration of surviving another year of workplace plot twists.
If you are an HR Business Support client and something urgent pops up while we are closed, call our main company line and leave a message. You are guaranteed a call back. For everyone else, please only ring if it is a genuine emergency. If it can wait until January, let it wait. Or leave a very detailed message that will pass the ‘this is actually urgent’ test. We will not be checking emails during the shutdown, and our voicemail is the only way to reach us.
If you know you need help before Christmas, reach out now. Solving a problem next week is always easier than trying to fix it on the final Friday before the holidays.
New Workplace Laws on Psychological Health: What You Need to Know
(and why it’s not as complicated as it sounds)
From 1 December 2025, new Victorian regulations will require all employers to manage psychological health risks at work in the same way they manage physical safety. Other states are moving in the same direction, so even if you’re not in Victoria, now is the time to understand what’s coming.
If that immediately sounds like red tape and heavy compliance, take a breath. The reality is that most small and medium businesses are already doing many of the right things without calling it “psychosocial risk management”. You probably check in with your team, shift workloads when things get too much, clarify expectations, or step in when conflict pops up.
These new requirements simply formalise those good practices so you can show that you’ve actively considered, addressed, and reviewed the psychological aspects of safety at work.
What’s changing?
Workplace safety is no longer just about preventing physical injuries. The focus is expanding to include how work is designed, managed, and experienced, such as:
- Excessive workloads or unclear expectations
- Low support, poor communication or unmanaged conflict
- Bullying, harassment or aggression
- Low recognition or fairness
- Limited control over how work is done
- Poorly managed change or role confusion
If these sound familiar, it’s because they’re the same factors that affect morale, turnover, productivity, and culture. Managing them well is not only a safety requirement, but it’s also simply smart business.
What you actually need to do
The process mirrors how you already manage physical safety:
- Identify what might cause psychological harm.
- Assess how likely and how serious it could be.
- Take steps to eliminate or reduce the risk.
- Consult with your team.
- Review regularly and keep simple notes.
That’s it. You don’t need a complicated system, just thoughtful and proportionate action that fits your business.
How Strawberry Seed can help
We know these changes can feel overwhelming for small and medium businesses, especially when you’re already juggling a lot.
To make things simpler, Strawberry Seed is launching a new two-tiered Psychosocial Safety Check service in late-January 2026, which will give you the clarity, structure and confidence to meet your obligations without overcomplicating your processes.
The service will help you:
- understand your current psychosocial risks through practical consultation and employee insight,
- identify what you’re already doing well (because most businesses have more good foundations than they think),
- spot any blind spots or gaps you may not have realised were there, and
- develop clear, workable steps to strengthen psychological safety and support your team.
Both tiers will be designed for real workplaces, not theory. They will be grounded in WHS requirements but delivered in a simple, human, and supportive way that fits how your business actually operates.
If you’d like to be one of the first to receive the full-service outline, pricing and early-access booking window before it is launched in late January 2026, you can complete our Expression of Interest form.
Click here to complete the EOI and be first in line.
Want to learn more? Register for our first webinar for 2026, Understanding Psychological Hazards and Risk Management 2026.
A Timely Note on Terminations Before Christmas
Every year, we see the same pattern. December hits, business owners look at the loose ends still hanging around, and suddenly there is a rush of calls about whether someone should be exited before the holidays. The instinct is understandable. The year is ending, energy is fading, and no one wants to carry a messy situation into January.
The challenge is that December decisions can get risky if the issue has been ignored or avoided earlier in the year. The Fair Work Commission does not look kindly on last-minute action where problems have been left unaddressed for months.
Performance-Based Terminations
If you are already in a formal performance management process and it has reached the point where a decision needs to be made, that is usually fine. You can also start a performance management process now, as long as it is done properly. Clear expectations, documented conversations, support for improvement, a fair chance for the employee to respond and time allowed to show improvement.
Where things go off the rails is when a brand-new issue is raised in December with an expectation that it can be fully wrapped up before Christmas. If the behaviour or performance concern has never been discussed, the chances of completing a fair and defensible process in a couple of weeks are slim. The only exceptions are serious behavioural issues or serious misconduct, which can and should be dealt with quickly, regardless of the time of year.
Redundancies
Redundancy is a different path altogether. A genuine redundancy requires real operational change, consultation, and consideration of redeployment options. This process takes time. It often plays out over a few weeks at a minimum. If you kick it off in mid-December, you are likely to run out of runway before the office shuts for the break.
It also needs to be said again. Redundancy is not a shortcut for managing an underperforming employee. If the role still exists and the issue is about behaviour or capability, redundancy is not the answer. Performance management is.
The Bottom Line
If you are feeling the pressure of the calendar, take a moment. Some decisions can be made now, and some are better planned for January. Acting thoughtfully protects your business and treats your people with respect. Rushing things because it is nearly Christmas usually creates more stress, more risk, and a bigger mess to return to in the new year.
If you need help working out the right path, we are here. We have a fixed price HR Coaching Call service for getting advice on how to manage challenging employee issues around performance or behaviour (and any other people issues you may want to get some advice on). We also have Managing Change: Expert Advice on Restructures and Redundancies, designed to support you through the process to ensure you meet all of your obligations.
Not sure what you need? Give us a call on (03) 4216 5200, and we can help you work out what service works best for you.
Upcoming Webinars and Free Learning Resources
We have wrapped up our webinar series for 2025, but you can already book your spot for the first sessions of 2026. January kicks off with Understanding Psychological Hazards and Risk Management 2026, a practical session to help you meet your obligations and keep your team safe. In February, we are running Understanding Assessment Tools for Better Hiring and Stronger Teams, which will walk you through how tools like DISC and other accredited assessments can improve your recruitment decisions and team dynamics.
If you want to keep learning over the break, remember that you can access our full webinar library on YouTube. Everything we have delivered since 2022 is there. Subscribe to our channel to stay updated when new sessions go live. You will find topics on onboarding, leave management, performance reviews, flexible work, supporting neurodiversity, managing Gen Z, mental health and more.
In 2026, we will also be introducing short lunchtime mini sessions. These will be quick and focused, covering bite-sized HR topics like long service leave or legislative changes as they happen.
If there are people in your team who would benefit from these sessions, you can sign them up here so they do not miss out on updates.
Leadership Training in 2026
We are just about ready to release our full training calendar for 2026, and there is a lot to look forward to. Our Leadership Training Workshops have had a full makeover, including a new name and a refreshed format, and they will be running in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Geelong throughout the year. If you prefer something longer and more immersive, our next five-month Lead With Impact program begins in February.
We also have a few new programs being developed behind the scenes that will roll out throughout the year. Keep an eye on your inbox in mid-December for the full calendar, dates and details.
Here is a sweet, funny, HR flavoured thank you message you can pop straight into The Punnett. No em dashes, no soft returns, and very on brand.
A Big Thank You
Before we sign off for the year, we want to say a heartfelt thank you for your support in 2025. You trusted us with your baffling behaviour issues, your curly performance challenges, your policy puzzles, your tricky restructures and the occasional moment where you simply needed someone to say you are not losing your mind, this really is as weird as it sounds.
We have loved working with you, laughing with you, problem-solving with you and helping keep your workplaces running smoothly and humanely. It is a privilege to support you and your teams.
We will be back in January, rested, caffeinated and ready for another year of HR adventures. Until then, have a safe, restorative break, and please enjoy a period of uninterrupted peace where no one says the words quick question or do you have a minute.
See you in 2026!
