As employers continue to grapple with mandates and directions for office attendance, a workplace advisor says it's "how" decisions are made that will determine whether employees "rebel or engage".
Decisions handed down in disputes about flexible work requests highlight the Fair Work Commission's "wide scope" to make orders when parties can't come to an agreement, and the key role that flexible work trials can play, a lawyer says.
The Fair Work Commission has confirmed that it can't arbitrate a flexible work dispute about a request that was made one month before the employee met the eligibility criteria.
One of the biggest lessons so far from the Fair Work Commission's arbitration of flexible work disputes is that employers must engage in meaningful dialogue with workers who are seeking new arrangements, a lawyer says.
An employee has convinced the Fair Work Commission to order an exception to her employer's hybrid working policy, because after moving further away from its office and enrolling her children in a more distant school, she required a fully remote working arrangement to manage pick-ups and drop-offs.
Claiming to seek a flexible work arrangement due to a child's needs was "somewhat misleading", the Fair Work Commission has commented, in dismissing an employee's dispute over a rejected request.
Compliance with an enterprise agreement alone does not constitute a reasonable business ground for refusing a flexible work request, a Fair Work Commission full bench has confirmed in dismissing an employer's appeal.
A dispute over a flexible work request, which was made by an employee over 55 and denied on safety grounds, has been dismissed due to not meeting the conditions required for arbitration in the Fair Work Commission.
The refusal of an HR manager's flexible work request did not indicate the employer intended to end her employment or leave her with no choice but to quit, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
Costly legal disputes continue to highlight the many risks employers face when managing, disciplining, or dismissing employees while they are absent, injured or incapacitated. Attend this webinar for an up-to-date review of the legal framework applying to workplace absenteeism, injury and incapacity, and lessons from recent case law.
