Flexible Work Options Implementation Policy 2005
Background information
AEU women and girls policy, 2001
The AEU (Victorian Branch) believes that systems policies and actions must reflect the demographics of the workforce and therefore standards for employees should include:
9.2.1 Promotion of flexible and family friendly work practices including part-time work‚ job-sharing‚ part-time promotion positions‚ carer's and family leave and an acknowledgement of a range of family types and caring responsibilities;
9.2.2 A recognition that any flexible and family friendly work practices need to ensure that any person accessing these provisions is still assured of a career path (for example‚ eligible for special responsibilities acting in higher positions and professional development options).
9.2.3 Permanent employment‚ either full-time or part-time‚ is to be the normal mode of employment for education workers in all sectors across the education workforce. It is unacceptable that many women education workers (especially in the Early Childhood and TAP sectors) only have access to limited working hours imposed on them via opening hours or casual/sessional employment
AEU flexible work options implementation policy, 2005
1. Rationale
One way of increasing work/life balance is through flexible work arrangements:
- The use of effective and accessible flexible work options (FWOs) to assist employees to balance their work‚ family‚ cultural and other life commitments and responsibilities contributes to a positive‚ healthy and productive work environment‚ thereby improving morale and efficiency in the workplace.
- Flexible Work Options can assist in retaining valued employees. FWO can help ensure that recruitment and training costs are used efficiently.
- FWO helps to recognise the changing pressures on most workers‚ but especially women throughout a lifetime and will provide for increase and decrease in time fraction and workforce attachment over the course of a career.
The provision of FWO for principals and other leadership positions will increase the pool of available talent and help to address the paucity of applications for principal positions.
2. Purpose
- For distribution to schools/workplaces as the AEU recommended approach and conditions for FWOs.
- This FWOs policy will then be used by the sub-branch to develop a school/workplace policy to reflect their situation and concerns or to assist principals /managers in implementing FWO in the workplace.
- The resultant FWOs policy would then go through the Consultative mechanism at that workplace‚ with the AEU WINs contact being a valuable resource and source of information.
3. Definitions
Flexible work options are arrangements between an employee and an employer that meet the needs of both. They are working arrangements that the employee initiates as beneficial alternatives to the standard full-time "9 to 5" working day.
Flexible Work Options may be implemented as a "whole school/workplace approach" or on an individual basis or as a combination of both.
Flexibility must be based on "mutual" agreement and is not to be imposed by an employer on an employee.
This policy covers principals‚ managers‚ assistant principals‚ teachers in promotion positions‚ teachers‚ SSOs and instructors.
Flexible work options can be implemented on:
- An emergency or one-off basis
- A planned short-medium term basis
- A long term or permanent basis
The range of flexible work options that are to be available to principals‚ assistant principals/managers‚ teachers‚ instructors and SSOs are broadly categorised as follows:
- Working time variations‚ including:
- Part-time work (including phased return from maternity or family leave)
- The opportunity to part time employment until the child is of school age
- Variation to starting and finishing times
- Changes to APT (administrative and planning time) or "spares"
- Lactation or breast feeding breaks
- Temporary non attendance at non scheduled duty time Temporary non attendance at meetings
- Leave variations‚ including:
- Sabbatical leave
- Long service leave on full‚ half pay
- Carer's leave
- Leave without pay
- Whole school/workplace approaches‚ including:
- Job sharing
- Flexible roster arrangements for yard duty
- Establishing process to allow "swapping" of sessions between specialists and the classroom teacher.
- Scheduling meetings to provide meeting free weeks.
- Location variations‚ including:
- Working from home
- Telecommuting
4. Principles for workplace policies
Workplaces should‚ through their consultation process‚ develop a written policy on flexible work options.
The following principles are fundamental to the development and operation of effective processes involving FWOs requests:
- Employees will be entitled to access flexible work options. The expectation is that the request will be viewed positively. To deny the request‚ the employer would need to show that significant disadvantage will result to the workplace if the FWO is approved.
- DET/ Regional Directors/Principals/managers refusing such a request would need to outline reasons in writing.
- All requests regarding flexible work options must go through the consultation processes established in relevant industrial agreements eg. VGSA 2004.
- Any variations must not breach industrial agreements.
- Any person accessing these provisions is still assured of a career path.
- Process must be transparent.
- FWO variations should be recorded in writing and have a start and end date.
- There will be an appeal mechanism which is in line with the relevant Award/Agreement or government legislation.
A policy must also address:
- A clear understanding of how to access/apply for FWOs
- Complexities of communicating with and between staff working different hours.
- Recognition of the complexities of balancing competing needs within the school /education community.
- Proper resourcing the implementation of FWO eg for lactation breaks.
- There will be provision of job share and part-time for all promotion positions with appropriate communication time for job share partners.
- All positions of responsibility‚ including any form of co-ordination‚ can be held by staff accessing FWO to enable them to develop and experience educational leadership. The FWO status of the teacher/educator is not to be a factor in the determination of their eligibility for any position of responsibility or promotion.
In order to implement quality flexible work options‚ the AEU will continue to work with the employer to:
- Monitor FWOs implementation by recording of data‚ evaluation and reporting by the employer.
- Ensure a reporting requirement on the implementation of flexible work options to ensure action. This may be in the annual report. There needs to be encouragement and consequences for principals/managers.
- Link FWOs approach into the main employer strategic and planning documents.
- Promote the benefits of FWOs to staff and workplaces. Case studies of FWOs and successful examples should be publicised.
August 2005 updated 15 May 2007
