The Flexible Working Arrangement Act came into effect on July 1st so if you haven’t already started thinking about the potential impact this could have on your business, now is a good time.
This legislation allows employees responsible for caring for another person (whether that person be a child or an adult, a family member or a non-family member) the right to ask you for flexibility in their working arrangements.
They can apply to you to work from home, work compressed hours, change their working days or change their start and finish times. They can only apply after working for you for at least 6 months.
You can decline their request for a number of reasons, like the inability to rearrange shifts, the impact it will have on quality or performance, or the inability to get extra staff.
Figures from the Department of Labour show that around 40% of workers will be care givers to someone.
While some employers may see this as a compliance nightmare, the reality is that many workplaces already offer flexible arrangements for employees, while others are starting to move towards this.
How do we comply with the Flexible Working Arrangement Act?
One way to tick the boxes is to have a flexible working policy and begin on the checklist on the DOL website. Another way is to look at countries like the UK who have worked under this type of requirement since April 2007.
From the British Chambers of Commerce guide ‘how to make flexible working hours work for you’ ways of practically introducing flexible working hours include;
- Part-time working: Work is generally considered part-time when employees are contracted to work for anything less than full-time hours.
- Term-time working: A worker remains on a permanent contract but can take paid or unpaid leave during school holidays.
- Job-sharing: This is a form of part-time working where two (or occasionally more) people share the responsibility for a job between them.
- Flextime: Flextime allows employees to choose, within certain set limits, when to begin and end work.
- Compressed hours: Compressed working weeks or fortnights don’t necessarily involve a reduction in total hours or any extension in individual choice over which hours are worked. The central feature is reallocation of work time into fewer and longer blocks during the week or fortnight.
- Annual hours: The period within which full-time employees must work is defined over a whole year.
- Working from home on a regular basis: Workers regularly spend time working from home.
- Mobile working/teleworking: This permits employees to work all or part of their working week at a location remote from the employer’s workplace.
- Career breaks: Career breaks, or sabbaticals, are extended periods of leave – normally unpaid – of up to five years, or more.
Regardless of whether ‘flexible working’ is law or not the reality is that many workplaces already offer flexible arrangements for employees, while others are starting to move towards this.
This may be a good opportunity for businesses to turn a required compliance measure into a positive incentive to
· retain skilled staff and reduce recruitment costs
· raise staff morale and decrease absenteeism
· meet labour market changes more effectively.
· Become a competitive ‘employer of choice ‘ in a world where skilled staff are becoming rare
The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 21,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
Resources DOL Website http://www.dol.govt.nz/worklife/resources/index.asp
British Chambers - How to do it http://www.aucklandchamber.co.nz/pdfs/2008%20pdfs/flexiblework.pdf
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