ways2work - Parents and carers
Family friendly workplaces
Family friendly workplaces have policies and practices in place to help staff balance their family responsibilities with their work. At these workplaces, parents and carers feel that when they ask about and access family friendly work arrangements they are not 'taking advantage', letting the team down, or jeopardising their employment.
Myth: Employers don’t care about my family situation
Reality: This might be true of some employers…but probably not ones you’d want to work for. Employers are increasingly realising that to recruit and retain skilled workers, they need to start introducing practices that are family friendly. They also value the skills and experience parents and carers can bring to the workplace: your stability, your initiative and your maturity.
Flexibility at work
More women are now participating in the workforce and more men are becoming involved in caring for family members at home. As a result there is greater demand for family friendly work options and there has been a rise in part-time work and other flexible work practices.
There are a number of employment arrangements to consider, whether you are full-time, part-time, casual or on a contract: the hours that you work, your leave entitlements, opportunities for accessing flexible hours, and flexible leave options.
Changes to your work arrangements will be negotiated between yourself and your manager or employer and need to consider both your needs and those of the business. Some of your rights are protected under law. For more information see the Your rights, responsibilities and entitlements section and also the publication Family Responsibilities - Guidelines for Employers and Employees, produced by Industrial Relations Victoria and The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.Flexible work arrangements
Just some of the flexible arrangements designed to assist employees to better balance their work and family responsibilities are:
- Part-time work: employees work less hours than full-time workers and receive the same pay and entitlements as someone working full-time but on a pro rata or proportional basis
- Flexi-time: employees can start and finish work between a flexible range of agreed hours as long as they work a set number of hours over an agreed period
- Telework/Telecommuting: employees do some of their usual work duties away from the regular workplace, see the Working from home section for more information
- Job sharing: two or more employees share the responsibilities, hours, salary and benefits of the one full-time job
- Purchased leave: employees can purchase an additional period of leave over the course of the year. For example, if working a 48/52 purchased leave arrangement, the employee will receive an additional four weeks leave per year with the employee’s salary of 48 weeks spread over the course of the entire year
- Graduated or Phased Retirement: employees reduce their working hours and/or their level of responsibility gradually rather than switching abruptly from full-time employment to retirement
- Employee choice rostering: employees take responsibility for negotiating their shift arrangements with each other and in consultation with management
The Family Friendly Practices (PDF 86kb) fact sheet and the ways2work Glossary have more detailed explanations of flexible, family friendly work arrangements that could be available to you.
Self-rostering: simple, yet effective
A team that included lots of young mothers working at the Emerald IGA supermarket often needed to alter shifts or take days off due to their child care responsibilities. Their manager decided to give them responsibility for working out the roster between themselves. This not only meant everyone was a lot happier, through word of mouth more mums wanted to work there. Read more about how self-rostering worked for Emerald IGA and its employees…
Some questions to think about
Think about what you need personally and professionally to achieve your own work life balance. You can use the That’s What I Want (PDF 80kb) checklist to identify the options you’d like to access and their possible impact.
How to access family friendly work options
You have every right to request flexible arrangements. If you speak honestly with your employer, give them as much notice as possible, and are prepared to explore alternatives, you might be surprised at how understanding they are. After all, they have made an investment in hiring and training you, and it's in their best interests to make sure that you are a happy, effective worker who contributes to their business.
It’s important to discuss the family friendly work arrangements that might be available with your employer when you are going for the job or returning from parental or carer leave. Keep in mind that not all arrangements will be available in every workplace.
For more information on how to access flexible work options see the Starting the conversation section.
If at first you don't succeed...
Natasha has a two-year-old daughter and is now a credit-controller for a prominent training agency. When Natasha was unable to return to her previous job after maternity leave she had to look for something else. After a number of deadends and setbacks she has now found a flexible and understanding workplace where she loves working. Read about Natasha's experience of finding a family friendly workplace...
Tell Us Your Story.
We'd like to hear from you about your experiences of balancing work and family.