In October, a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission heard a case regarding flexible work disputes and upheld a decision requiring an employer to approve an employee’s flexible work request. The Full Bench confirmed that a simple inconsistency between the requested arrangement and an enterprise agreement does not, on its own, amount to a reasonable business ground for refusal under section 65A of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).
The employer, Paper Australia Pty Ltd (Opal), had previously implemented a company-wide decision to end individual rostering arrangements for a group of employees covered by the enterprise agreement at its Maryvale site. Opal argued that these arrangements risked breaching the rostering provisions of the enterprise agreement.
However, the Full Bench dismissed the appeal, finding that Opal had not shown that granting the employee’s flexible work request would be impractical or cause a significant loss of efficiency, productivity, or customer service impact. As a result, the original orders were upheld, and Opal was directed to grant the employee’s request.
This case serves as a reminder of the specific requirements set out in the Fair Work Act that employers need to be aware of, and adhere to, when dealing with flexible work requests.
Read the Full Bench decision here.
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