As technology advances, employers have greater ability to offer employees flexibility in where they perform their work, including working from home (WFH).
Being flexible about where your employees perform their work can help to increase productivity and job satisfaction, making it less likely your staff will resign.
Working from home arrangements
In Australia, employees generally don't have a complete legal right to work from home but they can request flexible working arrangements, including working from home, under the Fair Work Act 2009. Employees who have this legal entitlement include permanent employees who have worked with the employer for at least 12 months and regular casual employees who have worked with the employer regularly and systematically for at least 12 months and have a reasonable expectation of continuing doing so.
Also, the request must be because the employee is:
- pregnant
- a parent of, or has responsibility for the care of, a child who is school age or younger
- a carer (within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2010)
- a person with disability
- experiencing family and domestic violence, or
- providing care or support to an immediate family member, or someone they live with, because they are experiencing family and domestic violence
If a state or territory law gives an employee a better entitlement to flexible working arrangements, then that state or territory law still applies.
What are the benefits of employees working from home?
There are a range of benefits that come with offering flexible working arrangements. Many employers have already embraced flexible work, mostly because it makes good business sense.
Offering flexible working arrangements can help businesses to:
Retain skilled employees and reduce staff turnover
Raise staff morale and performance levels
Decrease absenteeism
More specifically, adopting working from home policies can help businesses:
Offer an alternative to staff relocation
Expand their talent pool geographically
Reduce office space and associated costs
Accommodate employees with disabilities
For employees, the option to work from home can help them:
Work during their “personal best time”
Strike a better work-life balance
Reduce the time and money spent commuting
Maintain their all-round health and wellbeing
Reduce the need to take leave to fulfill personal obligations
Responding to WFH requests
There are rules for responding to requests for flexible working arrangements under the Fair Work Act. Employers need to respond to a request for flexible working arrangements within 21 days of a request. They must respond in writing to say whether they're approving or refusing the request or setting out agreed alternative agreements.
An employer can only refuse a WFH or flexible working request if they have reasonable business grounds and have taken certain steps including:
- discussing the request with the employee
- genuinely trying to reach an agreement with the employee for alternative arrangements, and
- considering the consequences for the employee refusing the request
Ultimately, employers need to decide if the request is viable, and only refuse the request if there are reasonable business grounds to do so.
Reasons for refusing WFH
Small businesses may struggle to accomodate WFH requests due to the nature of the business. Some examples of reasonable business grounds for refusing a request could include:
- cost- implementing WFH would be too costly for the employer and business
- capacity- there's no capacity to change the working arrangements of other employees to accommodate the request
- inefficiency- providing WFH would likely result in inefficiency or loss of productivity and have a significant impact on customer service
- practicality- WFH would lead to impractical changes to the working arrangements of other employees or create a need to take on new employees
Key takeaways for employers
While considering WFH requests or flexible working arrangements, it is imperative that you consider a few things:
- Is this a request for flexible working arrangements under the Fair Work Act?
- Why is the employee requesting this arrangement?
- What are the consequences for the employee if the request is refused?
- Are there any flexible working arrangements terms in any award, agreement, employment contract, or workplace policies that apply to the employee?
- How would the key duties of the employee be impacted?
- Does the employee need to be physically present at a location?
- Are there any alternative arrangements that can be provided?
Create better workplaces with Peninsula
Employees who feel supported at work are generally more productive, less stressed, and more committed to their workplace. Peninsula can help you integrate best practices and processes for HR and workplace health and safety. Call us on 1300697028 to talk to our team members.