New rules have been added to the Modern Awards from 1st December 2018 for Flexible Work Arrangements. If you have employees who have worked with you for 12 months or longer, they can request flexible working arrangements.
If employed for 12 months or longer, the employee can request flexible working arrangements:
- Parent or have responsibility for a child who is school-aged or younger
- a Carer (under the Carer Recognition ACT 2010)
- 55 or older
- have a disability
- are experiencing family or domestic violence
- provide car or support to a member of your household or immediate family who requires care and support because of domestic or family violence.
The flexible working arrangements include changes to:
- hours of work (start and finish times)
- patterns of work (split shifts or job sharing)
- locations of work (working from home)
Casual employees
- they have been working with the same employer regularly and consistently for 12 months or longer
- there is expectation of continuing work with your employer regularly and consistently
The request must be:
- in writing
- explain changes requested
- explain the reasons for the request
Reasonable business grounds include:
- arrangements requested are too costly
- it is impractical to change the arrangements of other employees to accommodate the request
- result in approving request would have a significant loss of productivity or negative impact customer service.
Source: FairWork
Title: Flexible Working Arrangements
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