Employees with at least 12 months of service can now ask for changes to their working arrangements if they:
• have caring responsibilities for children or others
• a disability
• are pregnant
• are 55 or older
• are experiencing violence from a family member
• are providing care or support to a member of their family or household who is experiencing violence from their family, or
• are returning to work after the birth or adoption of a child.

These are the new minimum national standards, there may be additional rights in your Enterprise Agreement, negotiated by ASU delegates and officials in your workplace.

Your Enterprise Agreement rights are also important to check – they could mean access to FWAs quicker, in broader circumstances or include additional arrangements, such as purchase leave, like 48/52.

You can ask for whatever flexible work changes you need to see in the workplace. Think about the changes you need, why you need them and how long you’ll need them for. Make sure to give all this information to your employer in writing when making your request.

Examples of this could be: changes to start/finish times, working remotely or from home, working more hours per day to shorten your working week or working fewer hours per day to meet other commitments and more.

After you’ve made a request, the law now says your employer has up to 21 days to decide whether to accept your request. They must tell you in writing if they accept or reject your requested changes.

Under the new law your employer can’t just say ‘no’! They must take several extra steps to show they are complying with the legislation.

Your employer must genuinely try to reach an agreement with you about changes to accommodate your circumstances.

If you make an agreement with your employer, they need to confirm the agreement with you in writing.

If you can’t reach an agreement, your employer can refuse your request.

However, they can only refuse your request after discussing the requested changes with you.

If your employer refuses your request, they must also explain in writing why they have refused your request and any alternative arrangements they would be willing to make, like a compromise.

Your employer will need to show that they’ve considered your needs, the consequences for refusing your request and explain any the ‘reasonable business grounds’ they are considering to refuse your request. They also need to explain that you have the right to take the matter to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for independent review and arbitration.

Reasonable business grounds include the cost to the business, the impact of your changes on other employees, a significant loss in efficiency or productivity, or a significant impact on customer service.

If your employer refuses to grant your request or fails to provide a written response with 21 days you can seek assistance from the FWC to resolve the impasse.

Before going to the FWC, you need to attempt to resolve the issue at a workplace level.

The ASU can help our members with this step, so call your union office for advice.

The FWC will attempt to resolve the dispute before going to arbitration. This might mean holding discussions or offering advice about the best way forward. If that fails, then the FWC has the power to make legally binding orders through arbitration.

You might have other rights available. under anti-discrimination law. If you’re a new employee, your employer isn’t required to offer you a flexible working arrangement under the law, but check your Enterprise Agreement in case we’ve negotiated additional rights at your workplace.

You may also have rights under other anti-discrimination laws. For example, your employer is obliged to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your disability and has a positive duty to end sex discrimination.

The ASU is by your side with expert workplace support and advice about other rights you may have.