Mothers Day is an opportunity to promote flexible work arrangements

Mother’s Day is a great reminder for employers to promote a healthy work/life balance for mothers through flexible working arrangements. According to McDonald Murholme Lawyer Francessca Lee, the contemporary provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) protect working mothers from facing consequences for requesting flexible working hours, taking parental leave days or any other exercising of their workplace rights.

“You have the right to request flexible working arrangements such as a change of hours, change in patterns of work such as ‘split-shifts’ or a change of location of work,” Ms Lee says.

“Employees are not entitled to make the request unless they have completed at least 12 months of continuous service with their employer immediately before making the request.

The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) states that the employer must have reasonable grounds to refuse the request, such as:

• the new working arrangements requested by the employee would be too costly for the employer;
• there is no capacity to change the working arrangements of other employees to accommodate the new working arrangements requested by the employee;
• it would be impractical to change the working arrangements of other employees, or recruit new employees, to accommodate the new working arrangements requested by the employee;
• the new working arrangements requested by the employee would be likely to result in significant loss of efficiency or productivity; and
• the new working arrangements requested by the employee would be likely to have a significant negative impact on customer service.

“If an employer takes adverse action against you or denies your right to request flexible working arrangements you may be eligible to make a claim under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth),” said Ms Lee.

“If you are a working mother who is being discriminated against because of your parental responsibilities, we recommend seeking legal advice.”

Based in Melbourne, Australia, McDonald Murholme lawyers specialises in upholding the rights of employees during difficult times such as unfair termination of employment or workplace bullying. For more information visit the website www.mcdonaldmurholme.com.au