Access keys | Skip to primary navigation | Skip to secondary navigation | Skip to content | Skip to footer |
Office of Fair and Safe Work Queensland
Department of Justice and Attorney-General
Home > Industrial Relations > Work, family and lifestyle > Work-life Balance Information Kit > Interventions at the managerial level > Requests for work-life balance – possible responses

Requests for work-life balance – possible responses

Work-life balance policies are not designed for the select group of employees who are parents, as is often thought, but can assist employees at all stages of their lives.

Generally, there is not just one policy that can accommodate an employee’s work-life balance, but multiple policies which can either be used by themselves or in combination with each other.

It is important to provide managers with some guidance on the available options, and encouragement to be creative in findings solutions. Therefore, some possible requests from employees, and the work-life balance policies that can be used to meet these requests are presented here.

Employees who want to study while working

Work-life balance policies to meet employee’s needs:

Study or training leave provides employees with paid or unpaid leave to study or undertake training that is relevant to their current position. Study or training leave is provided for in some awards or agreements.

Annual leave can be used to take time off for study or exams. Depending on an employee’s study commitments, part-time employment on a temporary basis could be considered.

Employees may also use purchased leave, if available. This arrangement allows employees to take extra leave each year by pay averaging, so that an employee has more leave but is paid at a corresponding lower amount of pay across the year. For example, if a 48/52 arrangement was negotiated, the employee could work 44 weeks in the year, take four weeks annual leave, and take four weeks unpaid leave. Throughout the year the employee would receive a reduced rate of pay based on 48 weeks of pay that has been averaged over the year (i.e. 52 weeks). The arrangement allows employees who need additional study time to schedule the additional leave to coincide with examinations or other study requirements.

Leave without pay allows employees to take an approved amount of unpaid time off work for any reason.

Pregnant employees who need to take it easy at work

Work-life balance policies to meet employee’s needs

Section 36 of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 provides that whenever the present work of a pregnant employee poses a risk to the health or safety of the employee or her unborn child the employer must temporarily adjust the employee’s working conditions or hours of work to avoid exposure to the risk.

Without necessarily posing a risk to her health or safety, pregnant employees also become quickly fatigued, particularly in the final stages of pregnancy. For these women part-time work may be explored as an option to ensure their well-being and at the same time their productivity. Changing duties of pregnant employees to avoid any further physical strain could also be considered for these purposes.

As pregnant employees often deal with nausea and tiredness, working from home might bring some relief as they don’t have to travel and can work at their own pace, thus ensuring they feel physically better and are consequently more likely to be productive.

Female employees who want to take leave following the birth of their child

Work-life balance policies to meet employee’s needs:

Section 18 of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 provides new mothers with 12 months unpaid maternity leave, and a possibility to extend this to 24 months in agreement with the employer.

Some organisations provide paid maternity leave. The period of paid maternity leave can be extended by providing the leave on a half pay basis.

To further extend the period of paid leave, eligible employees could be allowed to use long service leave on full pay or half pay and/or recreation on full pay or half pay.

A combination of these provisions allows parents with a new born child to significantly extend its period of paid leave, reducing financial stress during their time out of the workforce and allowing them time to put in place arrangements so they could return to work.

Employees returning from parental leave who need flexibility to look after their child

Work-life balance policies to meet employee’s needs:

Under section 29C of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 employees on parental leave can apply to return to work on a part-time basis until the child reaches school age. Employees may use this provision to ease themselves back into the workforce. In agreement with their manager, an employee may steadily increase their days back at work over a certain period of time (i.e. staggered return).

Employees returning on a part-time basis could be allowed to use their long service leave to substitute the loss of income when going from full-time to part-time work. Employees could return to work 3 days a week and have the other days off while being paid from their long service leave entitlement. This would give employees more financial security and a greater ability to balance work and family responsibilities. Being able to return part-time particularly when paid full-time might encourage employees to return to work earlier.

If there are no jobs available that can be worked on a part-time basis, consideration can be given to job sharing. It is a form of part-time work that might be viable when ordinary part-time work is not. It involves two or more employees making a voluntary agreement with approval from their managers to share one full-time job, each working part-time on a continuing basis.

Returning back to work generally means that employees have to put their child(ren) in child care. This means that parents need time in the morning and afternoon to respectively drop off and pick up their child(ren). Flexible start and finish times can be of assistance to these employees.

If parents can’t get child care or don’t want to put their child in care every day they work, telecommuting could be used to allow employees to work and look after their child(ren) at the same time.

Employees who want to travel

Options:

Work-life balance is just as much about being able to care for your children, or elderly parents, or study as it is about looking after yourself. Time off from work to travel may be a good way to get recharged benefiting both employee and employer. Section 11 of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 provides employees with at least 4 weeks annual leave and 5 weeks if they are shift workers.

Purchased leave can provide employees with additional weeks of unpaid leave. For example, if a 48/52 arrangement was negotiated, the employee could work 44 weeks in the year, take four weeks annual leave, and take four weeks unpaid leave.

Further leave could be granted to the employee as leave without pay.

Employees who will be participating in major sporting events

Options:

Leave without pay, available annual leave and long service leave can all be used for employees having to train for and/or participate in a sporting event.

Employees who need to look after sick/elderly relatives for extended period

Options:

Section 39 of the Industrial Relations Act 1999 provides for carer's leave, which allows employees to use up to 10 days of sick leave on full pay in each year to provide care and support to members of their immediate family or members of their household when they are ill or because an unexpected emergency arises.

Employees could also be allowed to use their available annual leave and long service leave for caring purposes.

If the employee has to look after relatives or get them to doctor’s appointments on certain days a part-time work arrangement might be negotiated between manager and employee for a certain period of time.

For short term absences, time off in lieu might be used if available to the employee.

 

Employees who are thinking about retirement

Options:

In the current tight labour market, employers want to hold on to their employees for as long as possible. Offering employees who are contemplating retirement the option to work part-time can be a good way to keep them in the workforce. Job sharing, which is a form of part-time work, can be offered when a job can not be worked part-time but doesn’t necessarily be done by one person.

Long service leave could be used by employees to top up their salary to full-time earnings if they are working part-time. For example, they can work three days per week, and use two days of their long service leave to have an equivalent full-time salary. This can extend mature-aged workers time in the workforce.

Last updated 29 September 2009