Human Resources

Flexible Work For Work-Life Balance

Flexible Work Options: achieving work-life balance in the Department

The Department recognises the increasing importance of flexible work options and family friendly work practices in maintaining a diverse, adaptive and high performing workforce able to meet current and future educational needs.

Flexible working arrangements can help employees balance the changing demands of work and personal life while contributing to improved performance and productivity. Flexible work can also assist in the attraction and retention of valuable skills and is an important contributor to the optimal participation of diverse groups in the workforce such as older workers, generation X and Y, employees with disabilities and those with family and caring responsibilities.

Rights and Responsibilities under the Equal Opportunity Act

The Equal Opportunity Amendment (Family Responsibilities) Act 2008 (EOA) emphasises the importance of flexible working arrangements for persons with carer responsibilities.  The EOA aims to protect family time in the context of employment obligations.  The employer has an obligation to accommodate the responsibilities that an employee may have because of their parental status or status as a carer, unless that accommodation is not reasonable given the circumstances of the case and the needs of the workplace.

Managers must therefore seriously consider requests for flexible work arrangements from staff members who hold parent or carer responsibilities.

The Department’s policy commitment to flexible working conditions to assist employees find a balance between work and personal responsibilities is consistent with the principles and provisions of the EOA.  For more information on EOA, see Other Resources below.      

Flexible Work Options: achieving work-life balance Kit

To promote access to and implementation of flexible work options in school and non-school locations, the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has produced an Information Kit titled 'Flexible Work Options: achieving work-life balance'.

The Kit was developed as part of the Flexible Work Project to review current practice and policy and to provide practical advice to managers, principals and staff when considering flexible work arrangements. The project involved consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and employees.

The ‘Flexible Work Options: achieving work-life balance’ Kit contains policies, tools and resources to enable staff to enter into successful flexible work and leave arrangements. The decision to implement a flexible work option should be agreed between the manager or principal and the employee with the chosen option being mutually acceptable.

When making a decision, the needs of the workplace must be considered as well as the needs of the employee. Arrangements made must also conform with relevant legislation, agreements and awards. Not all requests for flexible work arrangements will be able to be met.

The success of flexible work arrangements requires 'give and take' and a shared responsibility between employees and principals or managers to make the arrangements work.

The Kit includes:

  • Flexible Work Guidelines (PDF - 729Kb) (PDF, 675K)
    Flexible Work Guidelines outline the Department's policy on flexible work and family friendly work practices. It provides information on flexible leave and work options available to staff and includes case studies of staff in successful flexible work arrangements. Flexible work guiding principles, benefits and a framework for successful implementation are provided.
  • Flexible Work Managers' Guide (PDF - 276Kb) (PDF, 277K)
    The Flexible Work Managers' Guide is a decision making and assessment tool to assist principals and managers to successfully assess and implement flexible work arrangements including trialling of flexible work arrangements and ongoing review processes. A feature is the focus on schools and business units creating a culture and climate to support flexibility.
  • Flexible Work Staff Guide (PDF - 186Kb) (PDF, 186K)
    The Flexible Work Staff Guide provides staff with a vehicle to self-assess their need for work-life balance and appropriate options. It mirrors the Managers' Guide and assists staff to consider personal needs and workplace requirements when developing their proposal. The Flexible Work proforma (Word - 98Kb) (Word, 98K) can be used by staff to frame their requests.
  • Telecommuting Guidelines (PDF - 228Kb) (PDF, 229K)
    Telecommuting Agreement (Word - 250Kb) (Word, 83K)
    The Telecommuting guidelines and agreement provide appropriate guidelines and a model agreement pro forma to be followed when staff are entering into an agreement to work from home or other locations other than the primary workplace.

If you require documents in an alternative format please email or phone Contact/s below

 

Family Responsibilties Guidelines

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Family Responsibilities - Guidelines for Employers and Employees provide details of the family responsibilities changes under the Equal Opportunity Act effective from 1 September 2008.  The Guidelines provide details of the amendments, answers to frequently asked questions and a process that can be used to make and consider requests for changes to work arrangements. 

Other Resources

Policies, Guidelines and Case Studies

Related Topics

Contact Information

 

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