Right to Request Flexibility

From 1 January 2010, under the National Employment Standards, eligible employees have the ''Right to Request'' flexible work practices.

Right to Request fundamentals

This article covers the fundamentals of the Right to Request  including (i) who is eligible to use the Right to Request; (ii) what the Right to Request requires (eg a written proposal and a written response); (iii) grounds for refusal; (iv) enforcement of the Right to Request; and (v) steps to ensure compliance. The Right to Request is a golden opportunity  This article discusses how the Right to Request can stimulate the work life discussion in organisations.

Right to Request benefits

Right to request could provide more work/life balance than extra annual time  This article by Robert LaJeunesse, Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Newcastle discusses the benefits of the Right to Request in terms of providing a framework to address tensions between long hours, stress and work/life balance.

International Right to Request provisions

Flexible working in the UK - where do we go now?  This article summarises 2009 research on the impact of the Right to Request in the UK (which has been in place since 2003).

Right to Request gaps

2009 Report on readiness for the ‘Right to Request’  Survey research conducted in September 2009 by Aequus Partners and CCH Australia on readiness for the Right to Request found that ''over 80% of respondents rated employees’ and managers knowledge of the Right to Request as either non-existent or low'': Looking straight past a golden opportunity to get the work/life balance challenge right  This article discusses why this Right to Request knowledge gap is problematic for employers.

Links

Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)