Consultation
QUALITY FLEXIBLE WORK
Summary of THE CONSULTATION
Quality flexible work has become an important issue for New Zealand employers and employees. The Department of Labour has been investigating issues around flexible work and potential approaches to increase availability and take up in New Zealand workplaces[1], and has been working with the business sector, unions and workplace leaders to come up with practical ways to introduce and manage flexible work in workplaces.
In November 2006 the Department released the discussion paper Quality Flexible Work: Increasing availability and take up in New Zealand for public comment. The paper covered the key issues and what we know about flexible work in New Zealand and presented a range of approaches that could be used to increase availability and take up. These covered information and promotion (for both employers and employees) through to regulation and partnerships. The paper included a range of questions for response, addressing current difficulties with flexible work arrangements, the challenges for workplaces and what approaches would work. The paper was developed in collaboration with Business New Zealand, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions and the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust.
The discussion paper and consultation process was promoted widely through various networks including business, government and NGO and voluntary/community sectors, and with specific population groups including families, Maori and Pacific Island people and people with disabilities (mainly through support and advocacy groups). The consultation process was advertised in the press and through specialised newsletters and made available on the Department’s website. The paper was direct mailed (through post and email) to around 1000 individuals, organisations and groups. Response was facilitated by an online response form. Department officials also talked with several groups directly about the issues including the Pacific Community Reference Group (through the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs), the non-government sector, the public sector, NACEW, the Families Commission and the Small Business Advisory Group. It was intended to hold a number of focus groups with employees, to be organised through the NZCTU. Unfortunately due to time and resource constraints this did not happen.
At the same time as the discussion paper was released a campaign was initiated by the Coalition for Quality Flexible Work. The coalition is made up of business, professional and legal groups; community organisations; family advocacy organisations and unions (see Appendix 1) and they responded strongly to the consultation.
ABOUT THE RESPONSES
The Department received 777 valid responses to the discussion paper. Of these, 477 or 61% were form responses supporting “legislation presently before Parliament, in the form of a private member’s bill by Green MP Sue Kedgley, with the provisions extended to cover all employees”,[2]. Of the remaining 300 responses, 169 (22% of total) were from individuals and 131 (17%) from organisations. One response was received from a team. For the purposes of this summary this response has been included with individuals. Of these 300 responses, the major sectors represented were Government Administration and Defence, Education and Health and Community Services (65% of individuals and 43% of organisations).
In terms of organisation type, 25% of organisational responses came from the public sector (including local government), 24% from community groups and non-government agencies, 20% from large businesses, 11% from business representative organisations/industry groups, 10% from small/medium businesses, 9% from trade unions and 1% from other organisations.
SUMMARY OF COMMENTS
This report summarises the key findings for each of the questions from the response form. Responses from individuals and organisations were analysed separately. In general there were no appreciable difference between responses from different sectors and organisation types. Questions 6 and 7 are the exceptions to this and the report summarises these differences.
In general respondents agree that flexible work is important and, to be successful, it needs to work for employers and employees. While a number of respondents say that flexible work is already happening across New Zealand, there is a consensus that more could be done to increase availability and take up. 93% of all respondents support one or more of the approaches to increase availability and take up proposed in the discussion paper. If you exclude the 477 form responses, 83 % of responses support one or more approach. Of the respondents that didn’t nominate an approach, most agreed that quality flexible work was an important issue.
The most critical components identified by respondents to making flexible work arrangements work are:
Communication
Good communication between employers/managers and employees or prospective employees is very important to make sure that all parties understand:
- the benefits of flexible work, what needs to be managed and how it is managed,
- the processes to be followed when considering flexible work,
- the range of options available and their suitability for particular work environments,
- the impact of options on individuals, teams and organisations, and
- progress and monitoring of flexible work initiatives.
Information supported by structures and processes
Many respondents raise the need for easily accessible information that is tailored to particular people within the workplace (for example employees or employers), to particular industries (for example the retail sector) or particular groups (for example people with disabilities or Pacific people). However to be effective, information needs to be coupled with effective workplace structures and processes. This will help people to find the right flexible work solution for their individual and workplace circumstances, and will help both managers and individual employees manage flexible work once it has been introduced.
Leadership and a supportive workplace culture
Leadership and a supportive workplace culture are important so that an organisation is seen to be supporting and promoting flexible work from the top down. If workplace cultures are supportive then employees will find it easier to ask for flexible work and managers will feel they have the tools and ability to implement and manage flexible work. The need for champions across different industry sectors is also seen as vital.
The major difficulties employees face when asking for flexible work are based on a range of real or perceived fears that can make it hard for them to approach their manager or organisation. The culture of the organisation and the level of workplace or institutional support are also important factors. The need to maintain an adequate income and having the confidence to approach and negotiate with managers were also raised.
For managers and employers the main things that can make it difficult for them to manage flexible work arrangements are the need to maintain production and customer services standards, planning and monitoring work including budgets, managing staff effectively and maintaining managers’ own work-life balance.
Respondents agree that there are different challenges for particular sectors, types of work, occupations and work locations but a common response is that the benefits of introducing flexible work outweigh any difficulties that may arise.
New Zealanders continue to be divided in their views about the best approaches to increase the availability and take up of flexible work. While many respondents support the provision of more information and resources for employers and employees, many believe that these on their own will not be sufficient to see appreciable changes in workplaces.
The highest level of support is for specific legislative provisions for employees’ rights to request flexible work – all form responses and 58% of non-form responses supported this approach. In particular this approach is supported by all unions and the majority of community groups and individual responses. This approach also received the highest level of opposition (18% of non-form responses). In particular this approach is not favoured by most employers and business representative organisations/industry groups.
Those that support a legislative approach, feel that it is needed to legitimise the issue and provide a clear process and grounds for refusal that would help employees and employers. Those that do not support this approach feel that more active support through funding, training and partnerships are more likely to make the provision of information and resources more effective and be a more effective approach overall.
Many respondents give specific examples of how they as individuals or their organisation manages flexible work and a number of organisations mention the potential to introduce or extend flexible work in their workplace. Several indicate their willingness to support the promotion of flexible work in New Zealand.
There is general consensus that flexible work is important for all New Zealanders, not just parents or people with caring responsibilities. Quality flexible work is important for individuals and organisations but also for families, communities (rural and urban) and the environment.
Footnotes
[1] As part of the Government’s Work/Life Balance Programme and the Choices for Living, Caring and Working Action Plan and as directed by the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee of Parliament. (return to text)
[2] From the form Submission to the Department of Labour on Quality Flexible Work. (return to text)