QUALITY FLEXIBLE WORK

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QUALITY FLEXIBLE WORK – THE RANGE OF APPROACHES

Government, businesses and unions agree that quality flexible work is important for employers and employees.  We are already working on a range of initiatives but the real challenge is to make flexible work meet the needs of many more businesses, workplaces and individuals. 

There are a number of approaches that can be used to increase the availability and take up of flexible work in New Zealand.  These include education and promotion, active support and guidance, and legislated rights or processes.  They cover employers, employees and workplaces.  These approaches are summarised here.  Find out more about these approaches.  

It may be that we need a number of different approaches to make sure that we get it right for small employers as well as large employers, for different types of employees, for differing individual circumstances and for different types of work. 

How can the ability of employers to introduce and manage flexible work arrangements in the workplace be increased?

For employers it is important that:

• they have access to information and advice they can use;
• processes are simple and easy to implement;
• processes can be implemented without advantaging some employees over others so that everyone can be treated fairly;
• benefits outweigh costs; and
• business needs can be met.

Possible approaches include:

• Providing employers with information about flexible work options and their management.  Examples include:
• “how to” guide for dealing with requests (print and web-based)
• policy templates for flexible work, part time work, working from home etc
• Providing employers with more active support about flexible work options such as web-based on phone-line support.

How can the ability of employees to access and use quality flexible work be increased?

For employees it is important that they know what is available and they feel:

• they can make a request – the environment is supportive;
• the request will be dealt with reasonably – there is a transparent and consistent process for assessing requests; and
• the decision will be adhered to – the process is secure and sustainable.

Possible approaches include:

• Providing employees with more information about the existing provisions of the Employment Relations Act that enable employees to request changes to working conditions.  Examples include:
• brochures made available in workplaces
• web-based information
• information provided by workplace union delegates, and/or employers
• Providing employees with support to make requests. Examples include:
• a “how to” guide for requesting flexible work
• templates for asking for or justifying a request
• web-based or phone-line support for making requests
• support provided by workplace union delegates
• Providing legislation with more specific provisions about employees’ rights to request flexible work arrangements.  An example is introducing legislation that provides that employees can request flexible work and covers the process employers must use to consider the request and the permissible grounds for refusal.

How can workplaces effectively achieve quality flexible work?

For workplaces it is important that:

• any flexible work initiatives are fair to all employees; and
• flexible work is managed in a way that doesn’t impact negatively on the whole workplace.

Possible approaches include:

• Providing formalised guidance on how to implement and manage quality flexible work options.  An example is a “code for flexible working”.
• Government, unions and businesses jointly developing and promoting information and tools for implementing quality flexible work.  Examples include:
• joint seminars and training on a range of flexible work practices
• joint resourcing for support services (web-based, phone-line)
• employers, employees and unions implementing quality flexible work practices at individual workplaces.  Examples include:
• using collective agreements to provide the framework for managing flexibility
• jointly developing and implementing workplace initiatives

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