It’s essential that accommodation expectations and legal requirements are understood by both parties.
Employee
Farm accommodation can vary immensely; you may be offered a house on your own, a house to share with other staff, or the option to live off farm in a house of your choice.
Always walk through the accommodation on offer by a potential employer before agreeing to live there and ask these key questions:
- How will rent be paid and how much?
- How much bond do I need to pay?
- Who mows the lawns?
- Who do I report damage or maintenance issues to?
- What happens with rubbish collection?
- Does the property come with any furniture or whiteware, landline or WiFi access, is electricity or gas included?
- Is the property insured?
These questions should be answered in the Terms and Conditions of a Service Tenancy Agreement which must be signed by you and your employer. For more tenancy information visit Tenancy Services
Employer
You are considered a landlord if your employees pay you rent as part of their employment agreement. As a landlord, you have legal obligations and requirements as part of healthy home standards - including insulation requirements and working smoke alarms.
There must be a signed Service Tenancy Agreement (the correct agreement for providing on-farm accommodation) between you and your employee. You are entitled to ask for a bond and this must be lodged with Tenancy Services within 23 days.
As a landlord, you are legally required to tell tenants if the property is insured or not and the amount of excess that the tenant may be liable for if they cause damage to the property they live in. This is done with an insurance statement as part of any new service tenancy agreement.
Before staff move in, a property inspection report for each room needs to be completed together by the employer and employee and any existing damage recorded; take photos of any damage and file with the inspection report as a reference. This is a good time to discuss and agree with your employee on tasks you would like done and how often such as mowing lawns at least fortnightly, for example.
Conduct regular property inspections to check for any issues that require maintenance and/or damage. Be realistic about what is damage and what would be considered normal wear and tear.
Tenancy Services – key documents and links
- Healthy home standards
- Service tenancy agreement
- Lodging a bond with Tenancy Services
- Insurance statement
- Property inspection report