Page 29 - Women in Rail

Making change
Tips on creating a flexible workplace:
Types of flexible working arrangements might include:
Why – what benefits do flexible workplaces offer?
• Cultural change – a culture that is risk averse and not open to new ways of working will, by nature, be inflexible.
Flexible hours of work: This is where employee start and finish times might vary.
There are many reasons for being flexible including supporting both women and men manage work and other ‘life’ responsibilities including being a parent. Flexibility is not just a ‘women’s issue’.
• Consider a new cultural framework that recognises and values the benefits of flexibility.
Compressed working weeks: Employees may work the same number of weekly (fortnightly or monthly) working hours, compressed into a shorter period. For example, a forty-hour week may be worked at the rate of ten hours per day for four days instead of eight hours a day for five days. Changes to salary are not required.
• Leadership – without Executive support all new methods will fail. Flexible work practices are no different.
The benefits of flexible workplaces include:
• Senior management must embrace flexibility, promote the business benefits of flexibility and lead from the front with support and guidance to all in the business.
Time-in-lieu: Employees may work approved overtime and be compensated by time-in-lieu.
• Being responsive to changing work environments and technologies.
• Consult - ask employees what they need.
• Reducing staff turnover and absenteeism.
• Assess - consider what will work for the business.
Telecommuting or working from home: Employees may work at a location other than the ‘official’ place of work. This may include working from home.
• Develop flexible work options. Ask employees what they think.
• Reducing staffing costs.
• Communicate - everyone needs to engage with the process of change.
Part-time work: This entails a regular work pattern where employees work less than full-time and are paid on a pro-rata basis for that work.
• Being responsive to changing social norms and demographics.
What does flexibility mean?
Job sharing: A full-time job role is divided into multiple job roles to be undertaken by two or more employees who are paid on a pro-rata basis for the part of the job each completes.
• Providing better customer coverage in global marketplaces.
According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) – flexibility means:
“Flexible working arrangements, as defined by the Fair Work Ombudsman, are changes to the standard hours, patterns and locations of work. Flexible working arrangements are usually implemented in response to a request from an employee. While any employee can request flexibility from their employer, only some employees are specifically entitled under the Fair Work Act to make a request”.
Purchased leave: A period of leave without pay, usually available after annual leave allocation is finished.
Flexible careers: Employees are able to enter, exit and re-enter employment with the same organisation, or to increase or decrease their workload or career pace to suit different life stages. This may be particularly relevant for employees transitioning to retirement.
*This information was drawn from The Benefits of Flexible Working Arrangements, A Future of Work Report, prepared by the Future of Work Institute, August 2012
• Improving staff morale, motivation and productivity.
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