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Expert opinion

The “Right to Request flexibility” Standard provides eligible employees (ie those with children under school age, or children under 18 with a disability) with the right to ask an employer to change their (ie the employee) work practices (eg to working from home).  An employer is required to respond in a timely and transparent way (ie in 21 days and in writing).  Moreover the Right to Request Standard balances employee and employer needs by viewing every request through a lens of reasonableness.  In particular (and notice the onus here), an employer can only reject an employee’s request on “reasonable business grounds”.

Sounds good right? And it is.  We are looking at a balanced and simple process which is centred on evidence based decision-making about workplace flexibility, rather than abstract needs (eg “I need to leave at 3pm even though the store closes at 5pm”) and knee jerk responses (eg “put this in the too hard basket”).  What’s more, we are looking at a system that has already been road-tested for us: a similar provision has been in place in the UK since 2003 with positive reports from employees and employers.

So why am I worried? National research we launched last week (in partnership with CCH Australia) found dangerously low levels of knowledge about the Right to Request.  To be more precise, the research canvassed the views of HR, legal and diversity practitioners about organisational knowledge of, and readiness for, the Right to Request.  These survey respondents are the people who could be expected to have their finger on an organisational pulse.  So when 80% of the respondents told us that managers and employees had no, or low, levels of knowledge about the Right to Request (eg the application process, the response timeframes and the assessment criteria), we stopped dead in our tracks.  It’s as if, because of all the other changes associated with the Fair Work Act, this one has been lost: we see the Act itself, but miss the Right to Request Standard buried in section 65.

Notwithstanding this perceived low level of knowledge, 74% of respondents expect that the Right to Request will generate more requests for flexibility by eligible employees and 59% expect more requests from ineligible employees (eg employees with other caring responsibilities).  The problem is that the yawning gap between projected demand for the Right to Request and little or no knowledge about its terms means that managers and employees will not derive the full benefit of the structured Right to Request framework.  Without redress, we predict that on 1 January confusion will abound, non-compliance will be a certainty and access to flexibility for eligible employees will be thwarted.

These findings are a wake-up call for employers and HR practitioners.  They are also a wake-up call to those lobbyists who advocated for the Right to Request Standard, those unions and businesses who supported the Standard, and those in Government who saw it through to legislation: your job is not over.  The Right to Request Standard provides Australians with a golden opportunity for employers and employees to navigate long standing work/family tensions, but value of this opportunity could be lost in the hive of activity to address other aspects of the Fair Work Act if we don’t pay attention now.

For a copy of the executive summary of the “Right to Request Flexibility National Employment Standard Survey Report”  click here.

This blog first appeared on  www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2679057.htm#comments