NOTE (11) REQUESTS FOR FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS The laws about requests for flexible working arrangements changed on 1 July 2013. The NES give employees the right to request a change to working arrangements in the following circumstances: If the employee is a parent, or has the responsibility for the care, of a child who is of school age or younger: The employee is a carer (within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2012); The employee has a disability; The employee is 55 or older; The employee is experiencing violence from a member of the family; employee’s The employee provides care or support to a member of the immediate employee’s family, or a member of the household, who requires care or support employee’s because the member is experiencing violence from the member’s family. In addition, parents or those who have responsibility for the care of a child and who are returning from a period of parental leave or adoption leave may request to work part-time to assist the employee to care for the child. Casual employees who work on a regular and systematic basis with a reasonable expectation of continuing work can also make a request for flexible working arrangements. The request must be in writing and provide details of the change sought and reasons for the change. Employers must respond to the request in writing within 21 days and give reasons if the request is refused. A request may only be refused on reasonable business grounds which should be specified in the written response. Reasonable Business Grounds are defined as follows: Fair Work Act provides the following list of matters which may amount to reasonable business grounds but there may be others: That the new working arrangements would be too costly for the employer; That there is no capacity to change the working arrangements of other employees to accommodate the new working arrangements requested by the employee; That it would be impractical to change the working arrangements of other employees or recruit new employees to accommodate the new working arrangements requested by the employee;
NOTE (11) REQUESTS FOR FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS The laws about requests for flexible working arrangements changed on 1 July 2013. The NES give employees the right to request a change to working arrangements in the following circumstances: If the employee is a parent, or has the responsibility for the care, of a child who is of school age or younger: The employee is a carer (within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2012); The employee has a disability; The employee is 55 or older; The employee is experiencing violence from a member of the employee’s family; The employee provides care or support to a member of the employee’s immediate family, or a member of the employee’s household, who requires care or support because the member is experiencing violence from the member’s family. In addition, parents or those who have responsibility for the care of a child and who are returning from a period of parental leave or adoption leave may request to work part-time to assist the employee to care for the child. Casual employees who work on a regular and systematic basis with a reasonable expectation of continuing work can also make a request for flexible working arrangements. The request must be in writing and provide details of the change sought and reasons for the change. Employers must respond to the request in writing within 21 days and give reasons if the request is refused. A request may only be refused on reasonable business grounds which should be specified in the written response. Reasonable Business Grounds are defined as follows: Fair Work Act provides the following list of matters which may amount to reasonable business grounds but there may be others: That the new working arrangements would be too costly for the employer; That there is no capacity to change the working arrangements of other employees to accommodate the new working arrangements requested by the employee; That it would be impractical to change the working arrangements of other employees or recruit new employees to accommodate the new working arrangements requested by the employee;