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.
Flexible Work Arrangements – If you have employees employed for 12 months or longer, the employee can request flexible working arrangements if they:
- are the parent or have responsibility for a child who is school aged or younger
- are a carer (under the Carer Recognition ACT 2010)
- 55 or older
- have a disability
- are experiencing family or domestic violence or
- provide car or support to a member of your household or immediate family that 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)
Do you have casual employees?
A casual employee can make a request for flexible working arrangements if:
- 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
For flexible working arrangements to be considered the request must be:
- in writing
- explain changes requested
- explain the reasons for the request
If as an employer you are covered by an award and should you receive a request from an employee for flexible working hours you must discuss the request with your employee, to reach an agreement about the requested changes. Take into consideration your employees needs and what consequences may arise if there quested changes aren’t made.
Once you receive a request for Flexible Working Arrangements you must give a written response within 21 days stating whether the request has been approved or refused.
The request can only be refused on reasonable business grounds which must be stated in the response.
Reasonable business grounds include:
- arrangements requested are too costly
- work arrangements can’t be changed for other employees to accommodate the request
- 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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