Flexible working fundamentally changes the way we do business as consumers and producers.
Among the numerous modifications to employment law following changes to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill) Act 2022, some workers will have new options for responding to employers who refuse requests for
Currently, employers must consider and respond ‘reasonably’ to flexible work requests from employees who are:
Over 55
Living with a disability
Caring for infants or school-aged children
Carers, or
Experiencing family and domestic violence, or caring for someone who is.
The new regulations, which will take effect June 2023, will continue to apply to the above groups and will now include pregnant employees. The primary change brought about by the Bill is that these employees will now have the ability to bring a dispute over a flexible work request denial with the Fair Work Commission (FWC), and the FWC may order their employer to grant the request.