Flexible work is a key enabler of gender equality and has become increasingly important for employers in attracting and retaining diverse and talented employees.
WGEA has developed a checklist to help employers introduce flexible working arrangements.
What is flexible work?
A flexible work arrangement is an agreement between an employer and an employee to change the standard working arrangement to better accommodate an employee’s commitments out of work.
These can include changes to the hours, pattern and location of work.
Some examples include:
- flexible start and finish times
- working from home for at least one day per week
- compressed working hours or a 9-day fortnight
- job-sharing
- giving employees the ability to design their own rosters with remote access through rostering and shift-swapping applications
- combining and sharing roles, for example: four days in an operational role and one day in a role that allows for remote working.
Minor and ordinary work adjustments should not be confused as flexible working arrangements. For example, someone taking time off using carer’s leave, compassionate leave or parental leave is not the same as working flexibly. These are standard employee rights at work.
Types of flexible work
| Type | Description |
| Flexible hours of work | This is where you may vary your start and finish times. |
| Compressed working weeks |
You may work the same number of weekly (or fortnightly or monthly) working hours, compressed into a shorter period. For example, a forty-hour week may be worked at the rate of ten hours per day for four days instead of eight hours a day for five days. Changes to salary are not required. |
| Time-in-lieu | You may work approved overtime and be compensated by time-in-lieu. It can include ‘flexitime’ arrangements where an employee can work extra time over several days or weeks and then reclaim those hours as time off. |
| Telecommuting |
You may work at a location other than the official place of work. A wide range of terms refer to working at different locations, including ‘mobile working’, ‘distributed work’, ‘virtual teams’ and ‘telework’. These are referred to collectively as ‘telecommuting’ in this toolkit.
|
| Part-time work | A regular work pattern where you work less than full-time and are paid on a pro-rata basis for that work. Not all part-time work is necessarily flexible in nature, but it offers flexibility to workers who have other commitments or lifestyle choices that are not compatible with full-time work. |
| Job sharing | A full-time job role is divided into multiple job roles to be undertaken by two or more employees who are paid on a pro-rata basis for the part of the job each completes. |
| Purchased leave | A period of leave without pay, usually available after annual leave allocation is finished. Employers typically deduct the amount of unpaid leave from the worker’s salary either as a lump sum or averaged over the year. |
| Unplanned leave | Informal access to leave for unanticipated or unplanned events. |
| Flexible careers | You are able to enter, exit and re-enter employment with the same organisation, or to increase or decrease your workload or career pace to suit different life stages. This may be particularly relevant for employees transitioning to retirement. It can also include employees who are able to take a ‘gap year’ early in their careers and return to work for the same employer afterwards. |
| Other choices | Other options about when, where and how work is done, e.g. overtime and having autonomy to decide when to take breaks during the working day. |
Legal requirements
Different groups of employees have the right to request a change in their working arrangements, specifically the hours, patterns and locations of work, under The Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act).
The Act specifies the groups which can statutorily request flexible working arrangements. However, any employee can approach their employer with such a request, but it may be dealt with differently as it would not be governed by the current Act.
An employer who receives a request covered under the Act must provide a written response within 21 days.
Employers covered by an award must first discuss the request with their employee to try to reach an agreement about changes to the employee's working conditions.
A request can only be refused on ‘reasonable business grounds’.
A flexible working arrangement may involve a change in working arrangements for a fixed period or on an ongoing basis, to accommodate a range of personal commitments.
The Fair Work Ombudsman website has more information about flexible working arrangements.
The business case for flexible work
Some 87 per cent of Australian private sector employers with 100 or more employees have flexible working strategies. Many also have informal arrangements.
Flexible work arrangements may help workplaces to:
⦁ increase productivity and reduce costs
⦁ attract the best talent
⦁ retain employees
⦁ increase employee satisfaction and engagement
⦁ reduce gender pay gaps
⦁ support women’s workforce participation
⦁ support parents and carers
⦁ support employees with disability
⦁ enhance employee mental health and wellbeing.
Read more about the benefits of flexible working arrangements.
Improvements in productivity
A number of studies have linked flexible working arrangements with improved productivity and revenue.
In 2017, New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian found productivity increased 20% and employees were happier during a trial of a four-day week.
Similarly, a Harvard University study found that Chinese travel agency Ctrip experienced a 13% boost in productivity and performance when it trialled remote working arrangements for its 16,000 employees.
Employee attraction and retention
Employees are increasingly seeking more autonomy over where, when and how they work.
Several studies have shown that employees value flexible working, with one showing employees in one company were 50% less likely to leave if they had the ability to work from home.
Another study, by academics from American and Chinese universities, found staff turnover increased by an average 14 per cent when companies introduced return-to-office mandates.
Research also shows younger employees have different expectations about how they want to work. One study found that millennials expect to work longer hours than previous generations but they also expect to have greater flexibility.
Well-being
Unscheduled absences can indicate that employee well-being is low and may lead to staff turnover.
Flexible working can give employees the autonomy to balance their other commitments such as caring for children, people with disabilities, the sick or the elderly. Flexible working can also help employees to manage their time to allow for hobbies, studying or to keep fit. One organisation found that employees who participated in a work-from-home trial also reported higher rates of work satisfaction.
A joint study conducted by the University of New South Wales, the Black Dog Institute and the National Mental Health Commission recommends flexible work as an effective workplace intervention. The report found that increased job control was linked to better mental health outcomes among employees.
Consciously promoting flexibility to men is a good way to promote gender equality as well as employee health and well-being.
Diversity & women in leadership
Family and caring-friendly working policies will likely to boost the number of female employees in the workplace.
A harmful assumption, known as the “motherhood penalty” – that women become less engaged with work and their priorities change once they have children – continues to be challenged by research which shows women who work flexibly are just as ambitious as their colleagues.
Workplace flexibility can promote diversity and help women progress into more senior roles. Research has shown companies with more part-time managers have better gender balance at an executive level.
Future-proofing the workplace
Australia’s ageing population will continue to impact labour force participation rates, as people continue to retire. To meet future workforce needs, the Australian government has acknowledged the importance of increasing female labour force participation rates across the nation.
Australia’s female labour force participation rate is low compared with other OECD countries such as Canada and New Zealand. Changing the way Australians work, and making the balance between work and life more realistic is crucial to lifting female work participation rates.
Flexible work resources
A checklist of what you can do as employers to create a flexible work environment in your workplace.
A guide to assist employers to advance take-up of parental leave and flexible work arrangements in workplaces.
WGEA’s GEI Policy and Strategy Guides help employers to craft a policy or strategy for each of the 6 Gender Equality Indicators, including employment conditions relating to flexible work.