Are your policies up-to-date with the new family friendly measures in the Fair Work Act 2009

In February this year, we wrote about some of the proposed changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act). The Fair Work Amendment Act 2013 (Cth) (Amendment Act) has now been passed by the Federal Parliament and it is important for employers to be aware of the changes that have come into effect. Now is also a good time for employers to review their policies and procedures to ensure that they are up-to-date.

Important changes to the FW Act effective from 1 July 2013

On 1 July 2013, a number of "family-friendly" changes took effect, which we set out below.

Flexible working arrangements: The range of employees that can make a request for flexible working arrangements has been expanded to include: employees with caring responsibilities; parents or guardians of children who are school age or younger; employees with a disability; employees that are 55 years or older; and employees that are experiencing family violence or caring or supporting a family or household member who is experiencing family violence.

The FW Act also now prescribes a non-exhaustive list of "reasonable business grounds" in relation to when an employer can refuse an employee's request for flexible working arrangements.

Concurrent leave: The amount of parental leave that new parents can take at the same time has been increased from a maximum of 3 weeks to a maximum of 8 weeks. This concurrent leave can be taken in up to 4 separate periods, each of 2 weeks or more.

Right to transfer to a safe job: Pregnant women can now transfer to a safe job with their employer, even if they have not worked for their employer for 12 months.

Special maternity leave: Periods of unpaid special maternity leave taken by a female employee prior to giving birth do not reduce the employee's entitlement to 12 months' unpaid parental leave. If a female employee has an accrued entitlement to paid personal/carer's leave (e.g. sick leave), she may take that leave rather than taking unpaid special maternity leave.

Further changes effective from 1 January 2014

There are additional changes to the FW Act that will come into effect from 1 January 2014. These include:

Anti-bullying measures: Employees who reasonably believe they are being bullied at work will be able to apply to the Fair Work Commission for an order to stop the bullying.

Right of entry rules: The changes will give the Fair Work Commission more power to deal with disputes and will require there to be agreement between the employer and the relevant permit-holder about where discussions with employees must be held.

Consultation about rosters and hours of work: The standard consultation clause that must be included in awards and enterprise agreements will require employers to 'genuinely consult' with employees about changes to their regular roster and ordinary working hours.

What can employers do?

In order to respond to the recent and future changes to the FW Act, employers should review their policies and procedures with the legislative changes in mind and update relevant policies and procedures as required.

Employers should also review the training and support provided to managers, employees regarding the prevention of bullying in the lead up to 1 January 2014.