Overview
With the Secure Jobs, Better Pay legislation, if you reject an employee's request for flexible work arrangements that could be considered 'reasonable' before the Fair Work Commission (FWC), it could end up costing your organisation dearly.
In reality, flexible work arrangements have become a key part of many Australians' professional lives, especially since COVID showed many how it could be done.
It's important to remember that flexible working arrangements are an enshrined right under section 65 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act). Under the Act, organisations may only refuse requests for flexible working arrangements on 'reasonable' business grounds.
However, a FWC Full Bench decision in early 2025 demostrated that employers must realise the importance of getting the process right. Even though you have strong business grounds to refuse a flexible work request, if you don't meet every requirement under s65A of the Fair Work Act, the Commission can override your decision entirely.
Take action
As discussed in a previous article, there is now precedent into how the FWC may consider and determine disputes concerning flexible working arrangements.
To help your organisation work through what is a reasonable request, ABLA has designed The Flexible Work Arrangements toolkit which contains a checklist to review requests and template letters to use in your response to employees.
This toolkit is designed to help your organisation follow the 'best practice' guidelines, and be able to demonstrate reasoning if refusing a flexible work request.
Toolkit contents
This toolkit is designed to make the process simple for your team and to assist you in meeting your new employer obligations under the Fair Work Act. It contains a step-by-step procedure for managers to follow when handling flexible work requests.
- Checklist: covers preliminary steps, assessing and responding to a request, and record keeping
- Approval of Request Letter Template
- Alternative Flexible Working Arrangement Letter Template
- Refusal of Request Letter Template