Fair Work Week 4-8 January 2010
Date: 07 January 2010
FAIR WORK WEEK 4-8 JANUARY 2010
Today the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, visited a Woolworths store in Adelaide to talk about how the new Fair Work system allows employers to make flexible work arrangements with parents.
Joined by the South Australian Minister for Industrial Relations, Paul Caica, special adviser on work and family, Senator Jacinta Collins and the Federal Member for Hindmarsh, Steve Georganas, the Minister met with Woolworths CEO, Michael Luscombe and Woolworths employees.
Woolworths is an industry leader in providing flexible work arrangements to ensure skilled staff are etained and able to pursue rewarding career paths while also being able to access the flexibility they need to care for children.
As promised at the last election, the Rudd Government has delivered a new fair and balanced workplace relations system for a modern Australian economy.
Under the new Fair Work system, modern awards and enterprise agreements allow employers and working parents to make individual flexibility arrangements.
Individual flexibility agreements can vary the terms of a modern award or enterprise agreement to help employees better balance their family responsibilities and help employers retain skilled staff.
The latest figures show that almost 70 per cent of all agreements provide for the model flexibility clause or more flexibility than the model.
Unlike Work Choices AWAs, which allowed basic pay and conditions be ripped away under the guise of ‘flexibility’, individual flexibility arrangements must not disadvantage an employee. 12 months unpaid parental leave for new mums and dads is one of the ten legislated National Employment Standards (NES).
Like annual leave, public holidays and redundancy pay, unpaid parental leave is guaranteed to all employees covered by the new national Fair Work system.
A new entitlement under the Fair Work system is the ‘right to request’ flexible working arrangements like returning to work part time or an additional 12 months unpaid leave.
The ‘right to request’ is designed to promote genuine discussion between employers and employees about flexible work arrangements for working parents.
An employer can refuse a request on ‘reasonable business grounds’ but must provide their reasons for the refusal in writing. A refusal without reasons is insufficient.
What may or may not comprise reasonable business grounds is assessed at the workplace level. Factors that may be relevant in defining reasonable business grounds may include:
- any financial impact and the impact on efficiency, productivity and customer service;
- the inability to organise work among existing staff or to recruit a replacement employee; or
- the practicality of the arrangements needed to accommodate the employee‘s request.
The Rudd Government is also introducing legislation for a government funded paid parental leave scheme later this year to help working families better balance work and family responsibilities.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has developed a Work and Family Best Practice Guide to assist employees and employers to implement family-friendly work practices and make better use of the provisions of Fair Work Act 2009.
The Work and Family Best Practice Guide and more information about the new workplace relations system is available at
www.fairwork.gov.au, or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94.Media Contact: media@deewr.gov.au
Non-media queries: 1300 363 079
