While accepting an employer was entitled to issue a return-to-office directive, the Fair Work Commission has nonetheless ordered it to grant an exemption to an employee who requested to keep working remotely.
Employees must establish a clear nexus between their obligations as parents of school-age children and their desired working arrangements, rather than simply rely on their parenting status, if they expect to win disputes over flexible work refusals, a new ruling shows.
Some employers are now realising they've "gone too far" in adding flexible work terms to their enterprise agreements, and rolling them back isn't going to be easy, a workplace relations specialist warns.
Employees' expectations around flexibility and hybrid working are creating "some interesting issues" in redundancy-related disputes, an employment lawyer says.
Too many employers are still trying to structure flexibility and remote work around their existing team organisation and leadership practices, when it should be the other way around, according to an advisor with 20 years' experience in the field.
HR managers should stop worrying about office space being empty some of the time and pay a lot more attention to a far more important metric: "the happiness and wellness" of their workforce, according to a leader at EY.
Perceptions of productivity heavily influence WFH access, according to new research commissioned by the FWC, suggesting a role for HR in educating managers and ensuring equitable access to remote work opportunities.
The Fair Work Commission has shut down a flexible work dispute, finding the employee's evidence of a disability was "not credible", and there was no nexus between his circumstances and his stated need to work from home.
Return-to-office mandates can undermine high-performance cultures, and organisations that implement them poorly should expect to see "a lot of talent walk out the door", according to performance and leadership specialists.
All employers should consider putting in place a workplace s-xual harassment prevention plan, even though such plans are only expressly prescribed in one jurisdiction, according to a risk management expert.
Recent events have shone a spotlight on whistleblowing, placing employers firmly on notice that their response to a protected disclosure could be subject to intense scrutiny. Watch this webcast to understand the role HR plays in this challenging space.
