Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill

The Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Bill is expected to be passed before Parliament’s Christmas recess.

The purpose of the bill is to amend the Employment Relations Act 2000 in order to provide Employees who have full-time care of young and dependent children (a child or children under 5 years, or a disabled child or children up to and including 18 years) the statutory right to request flexible working arrangements, that is a change to their hours and or days of work.

To be eligible, all that is required is that the Employee has been working for the Employer for the preceding 6 months. Therefore, it is not only mothers or fathers who would be eligible, but also guardians, grandparents or, indeed, any other person who has full time care of young or dependent children.

Once the request is made, it will be mandatory for the Employer to consider the request as soon as possible and make a formal business assessment of how such flexible working arrangements could be achieved.  The bill sets out six reasons which would justify rejecting a request, including the inability to re-organise work among existing staff or the inability to recruit additional staff. Importantly, however, the fact that it may mean additional costs to the Employer is not a valid ground for refusing an Employee’s application.

If the request is refused, the Employee will have 3 months to decide if they wish to take a case to the Employment Relations Authority, and which will have the power to make an order for reconsideration or an award of damages to the Employee.

Proponents of the Bill point to similar legislation in the United Kingdom that was introduced in 2003 which has been so successful that it is supported by parties across the political spectrum and that of 80% of requests made were granted, and a compromise reached in a further 10%. 

However, there are notable differences between the two pieces of legislation and so it may be misguided to attempt to draw any conclusions about the consequence of the introduction of this legislation in New Zealand.

One issue you need to be aware of is that when an application is turned down you may need to justify the refusal to the Employment Relations Authority. 

Again, the onus of proof will be on the employer so please check with us before committing to anything. (09) 447 1527.