What are my obligations as an employer?
It’s important to be aware that your employees are entitled to request flexible working arrangements if they meet certain criteria. They must have worked for your organisation for a minimum of 12 months (this includes permanent and long-term casual staff) and must also meet at least one of these criteria:
- they’re a parent or care for a child of school age or younger
- they’re a carer, for example, for someone who has a disability, medical condition, mental illness or who is frail or elderly
- they’re aged 55 or over
- they have a disability
- they’re experiencing family or domestic violence or they care for or support someone who is experiencing violence from a family member.
If you receive a request, you must respond to it in writing within 21 days, stating whether it is approved or denied. You can only refuse a request on reasonable grounds, which you must outline in your written response. However, many employers offer flexible working arrangements to all their staff as standard.
Why you should consider flexible working arrangements
Many Australian organisations were forced to pivot to flexible working arrangements at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. An unexpected side effect was that many employees discovered the benefits of not being tied to the office. It’s now clear that flexible work is here to stay. In a recent survey of more than 1,000 knowledge workers across Australia, almost all said that they wanted their employer to be flexible about where they work. And 43 percent said that they would leave an employer that doesn’t provide flexible working arrangements. So, flexibility is a crucial factor in attracting and retaining talent . In a competitive, candidate-driven market, employers that offer flexible work options will stand a much better chance of hiring the best talent.
Flexible working arrangements are beneficial for both employees and employers. According to Indeed data, 56 percent of employees said they were more productive when working from home and 48 percent said they felt more engaged with their work when working from home. Many employees who work from home enjoy the greater autonomy and say they are able to achieve a better work-life balance , leading to better health and wellbeing. For you as an employer, happier, more productive employees and lower staff turnover are all good for your bottom line.
Types of flexible working arrangements
While flexible working arrangements offer many benefits, there are also some downsides to be aware of. Here are six types of flexible working arrangements, including their pros and cons.
1. Hybrid work
This is a working arrangement where employees can split their time between working in the office and working remotely. Depending on the needs of the business, office days and remote work days may be fixed or flexible. Hybrid work is one of the most flexible work arrangements in which the focus shifts from where employees work to how they work.
Pros:
- It could lead to higher productivity. Employees who are given autonomy to choose their working location are likely to be happier and, therefore, more productive.
- It gives more freedom to employees who feel they are more productive outside of regular work hours or those who have to balance work and other responsibilities, such as childcare.
Cons:
- It can have a negative impact on team building , as it is more difficult to integrate new hires when your team is not always in the same place. Consider hosting remote team building activities or asking all of your employees to work in the office on set days.
- If there is no clear plan for meetings, gaps in communication may start to emerge, which can negatively affect collaboration and creativity. Make sure that employees who work from home can attend meetings in person or via video link so that everyone stays up to date on any developments.
2. Remote working
This is where employees work from anywhere outside of their employer ’s main business premises. As long as employees have the necessary equipment, they can work from almost anywhere, including their own home, a coworking space, a satellite office, a telecentre or another worksite (for example, a client’s office). Remote employees could be located in the same city, interstate or in a different country.
Pros:
- You can save money on office space as well as office furniture, cleaning and car park leases.
- Employees tend to be more productive because they save time commuting to the office, don’t have to contend with office noise and frequent interruptions and have more freedom to work at the times when they feel more productive.
Cons:
- With the lack of face-to-face communication, it can be harder to recognise when your employees are struggling and may need some extra support. Make sure you schedule regular meetings to check in with remote workers.
- For employees who work from home, the boundaries between work and home can become blurred, which may impact their wellbeing. Set clear expectations with your employees before they start working from home and encourage them to have a plan for how they will separate work life and personal life.
Related: Helping your Employees Manage the Challenges of Working from Home
3. Flexitime
A flexitime (also known as flextime) arrangement allows you to throw the rigid 9am to 5pm workday schedule out the window and offer your employees flexible working hours. As long as employees work a certain number of hours during a set period, they can choose when their workday starts and ends. For example, an employee might choose to work from 10 am until 6 pm one day, and 8 am until 4 pm another day. Or, if an employee is contracted to work 8 hours per day, they might work 10 hours one day and 6 hours another day Some employers impose limitations, for example, by specifying certain times when employees must be in the office.
Pros:
- Works well for employees who need to work around other commitments, such as parents who need to drop kids off at school or people undertaking study outside of work.
- Helps employees keep their commute time down because they can avoid rush hour traffic.
Cons:
- It can make it more difficult to plan meetings or workshops if employees are working very different schedules. To address this problem, you can identify blocks of time when all employees must be in the office, for example, mornings or on a particular day.
4. Compressed work week
Under this arrangement, employees are allowed to work their contracted hours over fewer days. For example, if an employee is contracted to work 40 hours per week, they can work 10 hours over four days. The 9/80 schedule is another option—employees work 80 hours over nine days and have a day off every fortnight. As an employer , you get the same amount of work hours out of your employees and they get more days off.
Pros:
- Employees save time and money on commuting and the expenses related to going to the office, such as buying lunch and coffee.
- If you implement a four-day work week across the whole organisation, you can save money on utilities and other overheads.
Cons:
- The rest of your team might be overloaded or you may have difficulty finding staff to fill in when your employees take a day off. Make sure your other employees can take on any extra workload or you’re able to roster additional staff if needed.
5. Job sharing
This is a part-time flexible working arrangement where two people are employed part time, and they work together to do the work that otherwise would have been done by one full-time employee . As an example, one employee may do the job on Monday and Tuesday and the other employee does the same job on Thursday and Friday.
Pros:
- It may be easier to find two people who are looking for part-time work than one person looking for a full-time role.
- It can lead to more creative and better ideas because you have two people bringing their skills and experience to the role and both contributing their ideas.
Cons:
- It doesn’t work well if the two employees aren’t a good match. So, make sure you hire well and encourage your job sharers to invest time in getting to know each other at the beginning.
6. Part-time
Part-time employees work fewer than the standard full-time 38 hours per week. The number of hours part-time employees work differs from job to job, but on average, it’s 17 hours per week in Australia. The hours could be spread over five days or condensed into fewer days. You could also make an agreement with a part-time employee to scale hours up or down depending on your business needs or their periodic responsibilities.
Pros:
- There are plenty of skilled and talented people who are not looking for full-time work. Offering part-time work expands your talent pool and allows you to find hires that you otherwise would have overlooked.
- You can reduce your staffing costs, while offering your employee greater work-life balance and the opportunity to pursue other interests.
Cons:
- Given that they spend less time in your organisation and may also be working another job, part-time employees may be less committed to your business than your full-timers. These days, most employees aren’t looking to stay with one company for their entire working life, but offering them exciting and engaging work will encourage them to be more invested in your organisation.
