The New Normal? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA
REPORT COMMISSIONED JUNE 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to thank Fiona Patten, Andrew Shears, Dr. Lea Campbell, and those who were interviewed for their assistance in this paper.
Madeline Wright The University of Melbourne
Fiona Patten Member of The Legislative Council for Northern Metropolitan Region
June 2020
Disclaimer: This report is not an official report of the Parliament of Victoria. Parliamentary Intern Reports are prepared by political science students as part of the requirements for the Victorian Parliamentary Internship Program. The Program is jointly coordinated by the Department of Parliamentary Services through the Parliamentary Library & Information Service, the People Operations Unit and participating Victorian universities. The views expressed in this report are those of the author.
© 2020 Madeleine Wright
Cover photo by https://unsplash.com/@thoughtcatalog
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THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 2 Table of Contents
Executive Summary 4
Glossary 5
Abbreviations 5
Definitions 5
1. Introduction 6
Method and Structure 7
Limitations of the Report 7
2. Flexible Work 8
2.1 What is Flexible Work? 8
2.2 Flexible Work Trends 9
3. The Value of Flexibility 16
3.1 Access and Equity 16
3.2 Wellbeing and Productivity 18
3.3 Easing Congestion 22
4. Covid-19 as a Catalyst for Change 24
5. Barriers to Flexible Work 27
5.1 Difficulty in Implementation 28
5.2 Productivity and Workplace Culture 29
5.3 Socio-Cultural Barriers 32
6. Flexibility and the Victorian Public Service 35
6.1 Jurisdiction Limitations 35
6.2 Current Approach to Flexibility 35
6.3 Trialling A New-Normal 36
7. Recommendations and Conclusion 39
Bibliography 41
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 3 Executive Summary
This report evaluates the role of flexibility in Victoria’s transition from COVID-19 and the benefits of establishing a new normal of work.
Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) positively impact the Victorian workforce through a number of avenues: improving the accessibility and diversity of employment, decreasing the stress, time and carbon emissions caused by traffic congestion, decentralising job opportunities, improving productivity and benefitting community wellbeing.
The majority of Australian employees would prefer greater flexibility, but uptake is hindered by unclear workplace policy, the expectation that productivity or workplace culture would be diminished, and gendered perceptions of flexible work as predominantly for women.
COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdown has forced the majority of workplaces to change the ‘normal’ way of work. FWA have been rapidly adopted to ensure business continuity and in doing so have demonstrated that the barriers to widespread flexibility is largely that of inflexible culture.
Flexible work arrangements are currently organised on a business level in accordance with the national Fair Work flexible work policies. The State Government can improve flexible work standards in Victoria through a number of actions:
Recommendation 1: Role model greater flexibility;
Recommendation 2: Enable flexibility through infrastructure and training;
Recommendation 3: Deconstruct misconceptions of flexibility through targeted promotion;
Recommendation 4: Incentivise flexibility.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 4 Glossary
ABBREVIATIONS
FWA: Flexible Work Arrangements
ICT: Information and Communications Technology
NBN: National Broadband Network
4DWW: Four Day Work Week
SME: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
IFA: Individual Flexibility Arrangement
VPS: Victorian Public Service
DEFINITIONS
Flexible Work Arrangement: formalised changes made to the hours, pattern or location of work
Right to Request: employees who are legally entitled to apply for a flexible work arrangement, according to the Fair Work Act 2009
Social Distancing: a public health response to COVID-19 that recommends 1.5m space is maintained between people
Underemployment: the quantity or quality of work does not match the workers capacity
Presenteeism: the loss of productivity from a worker who attends the workplace but is not fully productive
Absenteeism: the physical absence of a worker from the workplace
Digital Literacy: having the skills and ability to use ICT sufficiently
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 5 1. Introduction
FWA improve gender equity, decrease absenteeism and presenteeism, reduce pressure on infrastructure and are influential in attracting and maintaining talent.
Despite surprisingly widespread governmental support for FWA, uptake remains largely informal, heavily gendered and misconstrued in many workplaces.
The development and distribution of technological infrastructure and the National Broadband Network (NBN) has removed most of the technical barriers to working flexibly. The remaining barriers are that of misconception, cultural stigma and undeveloped workplace strategies. COVID-19 has somewhat forced businesses to trial FWA and deconstruct the myths that it is impractical, inefficient or feminine.
The Victorian Public Service is committed to promoting a flexible workforce1. Beyond the public sector, support for FWA varies between industries and companies. This report is targeted at the Victorian Public Service as a role model for flexible work practices but can also serve as a resource for the private sector to better promote and adopt FWA.
This report seeks to answer:
• What impact has COVID-19 had on the state of FWA in Victoria?
• How can the Victorian Government improve flexible work culture?
To address these questions, this report aims to:
1. Analyse existing flexible work arrangements within Victoria;
2. Evaluate the strengths and barriers of flexible work;
3. Assess the impact of COVID-19 in the adoption of flexible work arrangements.
1 Government of Victoria, Safe and Strong: A Victorian Gender Equality Strategy (2016), 23, https://content.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/201912/317%20 DPC%20Safe%20and%20Strong%20Achievement%20Report%202019%206%20web.pdf
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 6 METHOD AND STRUCTURE
This report is informed by preceding flexible work research in Victorian Government reports and policy, a literature review of academic articles and three semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with stakeholders in local government, Victorian unions and Victorian infrastructure.
Chapter 2: Defines and outlines trends of FWA within Victoria.
Chapter 3: Reviews the impact of FWA on labour force participation and wellbeing.
Chapter 4: Addresses the effect of COVID-19 on the way Victorians work.
Chapter 5: Identifies and scrutinises the barriers to greater adoption of FWA.
Chapter 6: Evaluates the role of the VPS in establishing a new normal of work.
Chapter 7: Summarises recommended actions for the Victorian Government.
LIMITATIONS OF THE REPORT
This report criticises the current ‘right to request’ under the Fair Work Act 2009. Amending this Act, however, is beyond the jurisdiction and scope of the report. Additionally, previous research has predominantly focused on the gender impact of flexible work. Similarly, this report focuses on cis-gendered men and women within heteronormative dynamics of paid and unpaid labour. Further research should seek to include the impact of flexibility among alternative genders and cultures of work. This report aims to address the role of the Victorian Public Service in improving the culture of flexibility in response to COVID-19. It does not attempt to address the specificities of contract or employment law, enterprise bargaining agreements or ICT requirements.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 7 2. Flexible Work
2.1 WHAT IS FLEXIBLE WORK?
Flexible work is a broad concept that encapsulates any formal changes to the hours of work, patterns of work or location of work. Below, Figure 1 defines the most common flexible work practices:
FIGURE 1: Types of Flexible Working Arrangements
PART TIME TELECOMMUTING/TELEWORK
EMPLOYEES WORK LESS THAN FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES WORK STANDARD HOURS HOURS. MOST OFTEN ACCOMPANIED WITH AND DAYS AT A LOCATION OTHER THAN REDUCED BENEFITS. THE WORKPLACE.
JOB SHARING TIME FLEX
FULL-TIME HOURS AND RESPONSIBILITIES EMPLOYEES ADJUST START, BREAK AND ARE DISTRIBUTED BETWEEN MULTIPLE END TIMES OF WORK BUT CONTINUE TO PART-TIME EMPLOYEES. WORK A FULL-TIME LOAD.
COMPRESSED HOURS FOUR DAY WORKING WEEK
FULL TIME WORK HOURS ARE EMPLOYEES WORK FOUR DAYS WITHOUT AN INCREASE COMPLETED IN FEWER DAYS. IN DAILY HOURS, WHILST RECEIVING THE SAME, OR SLIGHTLY REDUCED, BENEFITS OF FULL-TIME WORK.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 8 2.2 FLEXIBLE WORK TRENDS
The nature of work has changed significantly over the last 30 years. The Australian Labour force has been particularly impacted by increased female participation and a growth in part-time and casual employment 2.
Part-time is the most common form of FWA in Victoria, however some people do not consider this to be a form of flexibility 3. Trends in the availability, request and refusal of FWA demonstrates flexibility is highly gendered, largely informal and restricted by who has the legally recognised ‘right to request’.
FIGURE 2: Availability of flexible work practices to employees 4
BANKING OF HOURS 33 7 14 49 (EG. RDO’S AND ACCRUED DAYS OFF)
FLEXIBLE LEAVE ARRANGMENTS 55 5 9 30 (EG. PURCHASING ADDITONAL LEAVE, CASH OUT LEAVE)
REGULAR/FORMAL ARRANGEMENT 11 4 27 58 (FOR WORKING FROM HOME OR TELEWORKING)
TIME OFF IN LIEU OF OVERTIME 43 8 15 34
OTHER ARRANGEMENTS 28 6 16 50 (FOR EMPLOYEES TO CHANGE FULL-TIME TO PART-TIME)
JOB SHARING FOR EXISTING EMPLOYEES 24 7 18 52 (FOR EMPLOYEES TO CHANGE FULL-TIME TO PART-TIME)
FLEXIBLE START AND FINISH TIMES 50 12 20 19
AVAILABLE TO ALL EMPLOYEES (%) AVAILABLE TO MOST EMPLOYEES (%)
AVAILABLE TO SOME EMPLOYEES (%) NOT AVAILABLE TO ANY EMPLOYEES (%)
2 Geoff Gilfillan,Trends in Use of Non-Standard Forms of Employment, Research Paper Series 2018-19, Department of Parliamentary Services, ISSN 2203-5249, https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/6383457/upload_binary/6383457.pdf
3 Victorian Public Sector Commission, The State of the Public Sector in Victoria 2018-2019,ISSN 2204-9088 (Melbourne 2020), 32, https://vpsc.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Report-State-of-the-Public-Sector-in-Victoria-2018-to-2019.pdf
4 Fair Work Commission, Australian Workplace Relations Study: First Findings Report (Melbourne, 2015), 30, https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/awrs/awrs-first-findings.pdf.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 9 TABLE 1: Requests to change work arrangements by gender, age and parenting (2003/2004) 5
AUSTRALIA UK
MADE A NO MADE A NO REQUEST REQUEST REQUEST REQUEST
All 22.4 77.6 13 84
Men 16.3 83.7 10 87
Women 29.1 70.9 16 82
Age
18 – 24 years 29.8 70.2 17 79
25 – 44 years 23.9 76.1 16 82
45 – 54 years 18.4 81.6 8 89
55 – 64 years 14.4 85.6 7 90
65+ years 8.6* 91.4 ** 87
Parenting responsibility
Preschool children 30.0 70.0 24 74
Men 17.1 82.9 10 87
Women 47.8 52.2 37 62
Children under 16 years 25.1 74.9 20 78
Men 16.2 83.8 11 86
Women 34.7 65.3 27 72
No children under 16 years 20.6 79.4 10 87
Men 16.4 83.6 10 88
Women 25.3 74.7 10 87
Notes: * Estimate unreliable due to insufficient sample size. ** Data not provided due to small sample size. UK data includes respondents from 16 years and older. Preschool children are aged 0 - 4 years in Australia and 0 - 6 years in the UK. Table excludes self-employed persons. AWALI N = 2307. UK N= 3484. See above explanation of methodoligical differences between UK and AWALI surveys which probably explain some of the UK/Australian difference in rate of request making.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 10 Figure 2 illustrates that ‘flexible start and finish times’ and ‘flexible leave arrangements’ are the most available forms of flexibility in Australian workplaces. Regular or formal arrangements for teleworking are the least available to employees (11%). Comparatively, in the Victorian Public Service (VPS), flexible start and finish times are the most common form of FWA following part time work6.
Adoption of FWA is higher in the VPS than the Australian average. 62% of VPS respondents across 2018-2019 used some form of FWA 7. Nationally, of the 32% of employees who have FWA with their employer, only 13.7 % have formal arrangements 8. This difference can be attributed to the VPS’ commitment to flexibility, which is further evaluated in chapter six.
There is a disparity between workers who have access to flexibility (44%) and those who would like it (72%) 9. Of those who made a request for flexibility in Australia throughout 2003-2004, there was a higher percentage of women (29.1) to men (16.3). This has changed slightly over time as 33.6 % of women and 20.6% of men in 2012 requested flexible work 10. This gender difference is reflected in the VPS, where 68% of women have FWA compared to 52% of men 11.
Age is also a factor in who requests flexible work. Table 1 displays a decreasing percentage of those who made a request as age group increases. Workers aged 18-24 are more likely to require flexible work to accommodate studies.
A survey completed by Natalie Skinner and Barbara Pocock asked ‘discontented non-requesters’ why they did not make a request for FWA. The highest percentage among both men and women stated the nature of the job as the main reason. 13.5% said it was because they had recently started a new job and 7% were convinced their employer would not allow it.
5 Barbara Pocock, Natalie Skinner, and Reina Ichii, Work Life and Workplace Flexibility: The Australian Work and Life Index 2009 (Adelaide: Centre for Work and Life, 2009), 54
6 Ibid.
7 The State of the Public Sector in Victoria 2018-2019,32
8 Parliament of Australia, Fair Work Amendment (Better Work/Life Balance) Bill 2012, Bills Digest no. 137 2011–12 (Canberra,2012), https://www.aph.gov.au/ Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1112a/12bd137.
9 Diversity Council Australia, Myth Busting Flexibility: Using Evidence to Debunk Common Myths and Assumptions (Sydney, 2018), 8, https://www.dca.org. au/sites/default/files/busting_flexibility_myths_online_report.pdf.
10 Fair Work Commission, Australian Workplace Relations Study : First Findings Report (Melbourne, 2015), 31, https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/awrs/ awrs-first-findings.pdf.
11 The State of the Public Sector in Victoria 2018-2019,32
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 11 TABLE 2: Reasons ‘discontented non-requesters’ didn’t make a request by gender (%) 12
MEN WOMEN ALL
Job does not allow it/nature of the job 26.7 26.5 26.6
It’s a new job/I recently started 13.5 13.6 13.5
Make own work arrangements 7.9 5.3 6.9
Too much work to do/not enough staff 6.4 9.3 7.5
Not convinced my employer would allow it 8.8 4.3 7.0
Could not afford reduction in income 4.8 7.9 6.1
I’m on a fixed-term contract 3.3* 3.6* 3.4*
I work as a casual 2.4* 4.3* 3.2*
Other 14.8 13.2 14.2
Notes: This table includes those who did not request flexibility and were not content with current arrangements. * Estimate unreliable due to insufficient sample size. Multiple responses were possible. N=506
Predominantly, employees don’t expect FWA to be permitted. However, the majority of requests for FWA in Australia are approved. In the year 2012, 91% granted the request without variation; 8% granted the request with variation and around 1% refused the request 13. This was an increase from 75% approval of requests made in 2010 14.
All employees can approach their employers for FWA. However, only certain people have the ‘right to request’ under the Fair Work Act 2009 15.
12 Natalie Skinner and Barbara Pocock, “Flexibility and Work-Life Interference in Australia, “ Journal of Industrial Relations 53, no. 1 (March 2011): 76, https:// doi.org/10.1177/0022185610390297.
13 Victorian Government, Victorian Government Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Workplace Relations Framework, (2015), 31. https://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/188309/sub0176-workplace-relations.pdf.
14 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Workforce Participation and Workforce Flexibility: Victoria Dec 2010, cat. no. 6210.2 (Canberra, 2011), https://www.abs. gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/6210.2Chapter3Dec%202010.
15 "The Right to Request Flexible Working Arrangements," Fair Work Ombudsman, 2009, https://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements/flexibility-in- the-workplace/flexible-working-arrangements.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 12 The Act details that:
Employees (other than a casual employee) who have worked with the same employer for at least 12 months can request flexible working arrangements if they:
• Are the parent, or have responsibility for the care, of a child who is school aged or younger;
• Are a carer (under the Carer Recognition Act 2010);
• Have a disability;
• Are 55 or older;
• Are experiencing family or domestic violence;
• Provide care or support to a member of their household or immediate family who requires care and support because of family or domestic violence 16.
Specifying those who are entitled to request flexible work creates a culture of permitting rather than encouraging flexibility. Women disproportionally occupy the majority of roles specified in the Act.
This denotes why women’s requests are twice as likely to be approved than men’s’ despite 60% of men wanting greater flexibility in their work17 .
The most commonly cited reasons among employers for not arranging flexible work, shown in Table 3, were ‘prefer to use informal arrangements’ and ‘no employees have wanted a flexible work practice’.
Employers can refuse a request for FWA on ‘reasonable business grounds.’ This catch-all phrase can disincentivise requests, particularly in a workplace with a non-supportive culture of flexibility 18.
In the event of refusal, appeals can be made on the basis of discrimination, but not on the basis of unreasonable business grounds.
16 Ibid
17 Myth Busting Flexibility, 8.
18 Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Response to Information Request 6.1 : Productivity Commission of Australia’s Draft Report on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning, https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/childcare/submissions/post-draft/submission-counter/subdr829-childcare.pdf
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 13 TABLE 3: Why employers don’t use FWA (2012) 19
5 – 19 20 – 199 200+ ALL EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEES ENTERPRISES (%) (%) (%) (%)
Prefer to use informal/undocumented 45 36.2 24.7 43.2 arrangements instead No employees have wanted a 38.3 46.9 44.7 39.9 flexible work practice Award provisions are suitable/ 15.5 17 7.5 15.7 sufficient flexibility in award provisions
Other reason 11.1 8.5 11.6 10.6
Use common law contracts instead 6 7.7 13.2 6.4
Happy with EA/sufficient flexiblity in 3.8 9.4 29.3 5.1 enterprise agreement provisions
Unaware IFA provisions exist 3,4 2.3 5.2 3.3
IFAs don’t allow sufficient flexibility 2.1 2.2 4.1 2.1
Don’t understand how to use IFAs 2.2 1.2 0 2
Don’t know 1.6 0.9 1.4 1.5
IFAs not reliable in longer term (i.e. can 0.5 0.7 3.2 0.6 be cancelled with 90 days notice) Concerned about penalties if use 0.4 0.9 0.4 0.5 IFAs incorrectly
19 Australian Workplace Relations Study, 33. Author unable to be contacted for clean copy of report.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 14 CHAPTER SUMMARY
• Flexibility includes any agreement between employee and employer that changes the location, pattern or hours of work;
• A majority of Australians would prefer increased flexibility in their work; however, traditional Monday-Friday schedules remain the ‘normal’;
• The Fair Work criteria for who has a ‘right to request’ is gendered and contributory to the imbalanced rate of request and refusal between men and women;
• Of those who make requests, the majority are approved. Therefore, deconstructing the barriers to request is important in improving rates of uptake.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 15 3. The Value of Flexibility
FWA minimise the risk of unemployment and underemployment among carers, mature aged workers, females, rural workers and workers with disabilities. Promoting a culture of flexibility increases workforce accessibility, improves productivity through enhanced wellbeing and can alleviate pressure on Victorian transport systems.
3.1 ACCESS AND EQUITY
Carers
Due to unpaid responsibilities, carers are commonly forced into casual and part-time work, with less compensation and fewer opportunities 20. The International Monetary Fund identifies that involuntary part-time work contributes to slow wage and productivity growth 21.People with caring responsibility have a ‘right to request’ FWA under the Fair Work Act. However, having the opportunity for flexible work within an inflexible workplace culture can limit people with caring responsibilities to insecure jobs and work they are overqualified for22 .
Women
COVID-19 has been labelled a pink-collar recession 23, as women are disproportionally impacted. This is attributable to an overrepresentation of females in the heavily impacted service sectors (food, accommodation and retail), and in casual employment 24. A pink-collar recession exacerbates existing inequalities in the number of women who relinquish paid work for unpaid work. In cultures where flexibility is normalised, women have reported having higher quality jobs and better matching between hours worked and hours desired 25.
20 “It’s About Time: Striking the Balance in the Workplace,” Australian Human Rights Commission, 2009, https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/its-about- time-chapter-4.
21 Geoff Gilfillan,The Extent and Causes of the Wage Growth Slowdown in Australia, Research Paper Series 2018-19, Department of Parliamentary Services, ISSN 2203-5249 (2019), 14, https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/6609740/upload_binary/6609740.pdf.
22 Will Stronge, and Aidan Harper, ed., The Shorter Working Week: A Radical and Pragmatic Proposal (Hampshire: Autonomy, 2019) 55.
23 Celina Ribeiro, “’Pink-Collar Recession’: How the Covid-19 Crisis Could Set Back a Generation of Women”, The Guardian, May 24, 2020, https://www. theguardian.com/world/2020/may/24/pink-collar-recession-how-the-covid-19-crisis-is-eroding-womens-economic-power
24 Annabel Crabb, “Coronavirus has left Australian Women Anxious, Overworked, Insecure – and Worse off than Men Again,”ABC News,May 24, 2020, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-24/coronavirus-has-set-back-progress-for-women-workplace-equality/12268742.
25 Leah Ruppanner, Rennie Lee, and Matt Huffman. “Do Mothers Benefit from Flexible Work? Cross-National Evidence for Work Time, Job Quality, and Satisfaction,” International Journal of Sociology 48, no.2 (April 2018): 183, DOI: 10.1080/00207659.2018.1446119.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 16 Mature Aged
The Victorian population is ageing. The proportion of working age people to those older than 65 was 7.5 to 1 in 1970 and will drop to 2.7 to 1 by 2050 26. Consequently, overall labour supply is expected to drop 5% by 2060 27. An ageing population also presents challenges to labour participation indirectly by increasing the number of people required to assist in caring for the elderly.
The most common reasons cited by those wanting to transition to retirement relate to health, family and leisure 28. 73% of mature age workers, would stay in the workforce longer if flexible work was available to them 29. Incentivising longer workforce participation, through FWA, can decrease staff turnover, retain skills and foster mentoring relationships with younger colleagues 30 .
People with Disabilities
One in five Australians experience some form of disability31 . The inflexible workplace is a barrier to people with disabilities accessing sustainable and quality work. Despite representing 16.6% of the working age population 32, people experiencing disability have a much lower participation rate (53%) compared to those without a disability (80%) 33.
The current ‘right to request’ acknowledges flexibility is particularly pertinent for these populations. However, industry leaders recognise flexibility is necessary in attracting and maintaining talent, especially among younger generations 34.
Younger workers increasingly value flexible work, predominantly part time or telework35 . Flexibility is advantageous in hiring 36 as it is more attractive to employees even if the policies aren’t utilised 37. Extending the ‘right to request’ FWA to all workers, improves the quality of work available to those most vulnerable to insecure employment whilst also adapting to the changing demands of younger workers.
26 Attorney General’s Department, Investing in Experience, ISBN PDF 978-0-642-33219-6 (Barton, 2011), 7, http://atdc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ Investing-in-Experience_long-version.pdf.
27 Productivity Commission, An Ageing Australia: Preparing for the Future, ISBN 978-1-74037-462-0 (Melbourne, 2013), 2, https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ completed/ageing-australia/ageing-australia.pdf.
28 Productivity Commission, The Role of Non-Traditional Work in the Australian Labour Market, ISBN 1 74037 204 2 (Melbourne, 2006), 73, https://www.pc.gov. au/research/completed/non-traditional-work/nontraditionalwork.pdf
29 Myth Busting Flexibility, 8.
30 Investing in Experience, 34.
31 The Australian Telework Advisory Committee to the Australian Government, Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses:Maximising the Economic and Social Benefits of Flexible Working Practices, (Barton, ACT, 2006), 24, https://telecommunities.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/atac_report1.pdf.
32 “It’s About Time: Striking the Balance in the Workplace,” chapter 4, Australian Human Rights Commission, 2009, https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/its- about-time-chapter-4.
33 Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses, 24.
34 Henley Business School, Four Better of Four Worse: White Paper, (United Kingdom, 2019) 3 , https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2019-07/apo-nid263476.pdf.
35 John L.Hopkins, and Judith Mckay. “Investigating ‘anywhere working’ as a mechanism for alleviating traffic congestion in smart cities,”Technological Forecasting and Social Change 142 (2019): 259, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.032.
36 Riva Poor, “How and Why Flexible Work Weeks Came About,” Connecticut Law Review 42, no.4 (May 2010): 1054.
37 Myth Busting Flexibility, 5.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 17 3.2 WELLBEING AND PRODUCTIVITY
Working overtime is associated with higher rates of work-related injuries, disruption to family life, mental stress and diminished satisfaction 38. Flexibility is identified as a method for positively impacting work-life balance 39. For this report, work-life balance is defined in accordance with the OECD definition as:
“The ability to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life.” 40
FIGURE 3: The Stress Cycle 41
STRESS
DECREASED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRODUCTIVITY STRESS
LOW JOB PHYSICAL HEALTH SATISFACTION DECLINE
LOW FINANCIAL DECREASED RETURN MOTIVATION
PRESENTEEISM, ABSENTEEISM & TARDINESS
38 Robert Grosse, The Four Day Work Week (New York: Routledge, 2018), 7.
39 Skinner and Pocock, “Flexibility and Work-Life Interference in Australia,” 65
40 “Work Life Balance, “ OECD Better Life Index, http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/work-life-balance/.
41 Medibank, Sick at Work: The Cost of Presenteeism to Your Business and the Economy (Brisbane QLD, 2011), 6, https://www.medibank.com.au/Client/Documents/Pdfs/sick_at_work.pdf.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 18 A study conducted by Medibank Private details how stress, health, presenteeism and absenteeism is cyclical with productivity, satisfaction and financial return. The ‘stress cycle’ will be used to assess how flexible work can impact wellbeing and productivity in Victoria.
FIGURE 4: Proportion of work-related injury or illnesses that led to an absence of five days or more (2013-2014) 42
STRESS OR OTHER MENTAL CONDITION
FRACTURE
OTHER
CHRONIC JOINT OR MUSCLE CONDITION
SPRAIN / STRAIN
CRUSHING INJURY OR NTERNAL ORGAN DAMAGE
CUT/OPEN WOUND
BURNS
SUPERFICIAL INJURY
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
42 KPMG, and Mental Health Australia, Investing to Save: The Economic Benefits for Australia of Investment in Mental Health Reform, (2018), 22, https:// mhaustralia.org/sites/default/files/docs/investing_to_save_may_2018_-_kpmg_mental_health_australia.pdf.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 19 Stress
Figure 4 highlights that ‘stress or other mental conditions’ recorded the largest proportion of work-related injuries that led to an absence of five days or more from the workplace in 2013-2014. Workplace stress is strongly linked with job demand, job control 43, job insecurity, low social support and imbalance of effort and reward 44. High levels of workplace stress can contribute to diminished worker resilience and ‘burnout’ 45 recognised as mental and physical exhaustion 46.
Physical Health Decline
Burnout and workplace stress can negatively impact physical health, and is associated with poorer quality sleep, greater prevalence of substance abuse, poor eating habits 47, increased workplace accidents 48, chronic lifestyle diseases including obesity and cardiovascular disease, and low physical activity 49.
Australians have the highest number of years spent in ill health compared to other OECD countries 50. Addressing ill health is important in addressing workforce productivity. This is because those in ill-health experience lower employment, and lower rates of productivity than those in good health 51.
Presenteeism and Absenteeism
Presenteeism is the loss of productivity from a worker who attends the workplace but is not fully productive52. Absenteeism is the physical absence of a worker from the workplace. Employees with mental ill health are more likely to be absent from work 53. However, the accuracy of absenteeism due to mental health is impacted by employees citing alternative reasons for absence owing to stigma 54.
43 Job control is the amount of say one has in how one works.
44 The Australia Institute, Long Time No See: The Impact of Time Poverty on Australian Workers, (Manuka ACT, 2010), 10, https://www.tai.org.au/sites/default/files/PB%2020%20Long%20time%20no%20see_4.pdf.
45 Amy Isham, Simon Mair, and Tim Jackson. “ Wellbeing and Productivity: A Review of the Literature,” Economic and Social Research Council, (December 2019) : 34-35, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338899227_Wellbeing_and_productivity_a_review_of_the_literature.
46 Burn-Out an ‘Occupational Phenomenon’: International Classification of Diseases,” Mental Health, World Health Organisation, 2019, https://www.who.int/ mental_health/evidence/burn-out/en/.
47 Long Time No See, 10.
48 Ronald J. Burke. “Working to Live or Living to Work: Should Individuals and Organizations Care?”, Journal of Business Ethics 84, no.2 (February 2009): 168, DOI: 10.1007/s10551-008-9703-6.
49 Isham, Mair and Jackson, “Wellbeing and Productivity,”32.
50 Productivity Commission, Shifting the Dial: 5 Year Productivity Review, Report No. 84 (Canberra ACT ,2017) 44, https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/ completed/productivity-review/report/productivity-review.pdf.
51 Ibid, 47.
52 “How Employee Health and Wellbeing Affects Organisational Productivity,” Australian Public Service Commission, 2018, https://www.apsc.gov.au/how- employee-health-and-wellbeing-affects-organisational-productivity.
53 Investing to Save, 22.
54 Isham, Mair and Jackson, “Wellbeing and Productivity,”14.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 20 Cost of Mental Health
The cost of mental ill health in the workplace, including injuries, absenteeism and presenteeism, totalled $12.8 billion in 2015-16 55. Presenteeism can cost as many as four times more than absenteeism 56 and is expected to total $35.8 billion of Australia’s GDP in 2050 57 .
Among employers who offer FWA, 29% offered it because it decreased presenteeism and absenteeism, 43.5% believed it increased productivity, 40% cited it reduced costs and 45.9% indicated it supported better work-life balance 58. Among employees who have FWA, 55% reported less stress 59 .
Promoting a culture of flexibility improves job control and can interrupt negative and costly cycles of stress.
55 Lauren Cook, Mental Health in Australia: A Quick Guide, Research Paper Series 2018-19, ISSN 2203-5249, Department of Parliamentary Services, (2019) 2, https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/6497249/upload_binary/6497249.pdf .
56 “How Employee Health and Wellbeing Affects Organisational Productivity.”
57 Sick at Work, 5.
58 Rex L. Facer, and Lori L. Wadsworth. “Four-Day Work Weeks: Current Research and Practice,” Connecticut Law Review 42, no. 4 (May 2010): 1037.
59 Myth Busting Flexibility, 5.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 21 3.3 EASING CONGESTION
Maintaining a safe 1.5m distance between people is paramount to Victoria’s safe transition from COVID-19. FWA are an effective way of reducing or staggering density on public transport and in workplaces.
Figure 5 displays average peak hours in Melbourne are condensed between 7-9am and 4-7pm.
FIGURE 5: Melbourne’s public transport profile across an average weekday (2019)60
TRAM BUS TRAIN
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000 BOARDINGS PER DAY 20,000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
TIME OF DAY
FWA can distribute peak hour traffic across a longer period of time and reduce congestion on roads and public transport systems. A 30% increase in teleworking could reduce the average number of daily commuters from 550,000 to 394,400 61. Congestion has a number of implications for emission production, commuter wellbeing, productivity, costs and employment accessibility.
60 Infrastructure Victoria, Five-Year Focus: Immediate Actions to Tackle Congestion, (2018), 29, https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/wp-content/ uploads/2019/04/Five-year-focus-Immediate-actions-to-tackle-congestion-April-2018.pdf.
61 Hopkins and McKay, “Investigating ‘Anywhere Working’ as a Mechanism for Alleviating Traffic Congestion in Smart Cities,” 270.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 22 Emission Production
Congested traffic increases the production of carbon emissions due to the number of vehicles and the nature of stop-start traffic62 . Reducing congestion can therefore assist the Victorian Government’s goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050 63.
Commuter Wellbeing
The HILDA survey demonstrates that people with longer daily commutes are more likely to be dissatisfied with their job overall and change jobs in the next year 64. This increases the cost of higher staff turnover 65 and work-life interference 66.
Productivity
The average time Australians spend travelling to and from work each day is 4.5 hours and has lengthened 23% since 2002 67. The variability and length of travel increases lateness, stress and absenteeism 68, and negatively impacts productivity.
62 Ibid, 258.
63 “New 2020 Emissions Reduction Target Kicks Off More Climate Change Action,” Department of Environment Land Water and Planning, 2017, https://www. climatechange.vic.gov.au/media-releases/new-2020-emissions-target-kicks-off-more-climate-change-action.
64 The Melbourne Institute, Living in Australia: A Snapshot of Australian Society and How it is Changing Over Time, (Melbourne, 2019) 25, https:// melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/3126038/LivingInAus-2019.pdf.
65 Australian Information Industry Association, Inquiry in the Opportunities for People to Use Telecommuting and E-business to Work Remotely in Rural and Regional Victoria: Response from AIIA, (2013), 3, https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/rrc/ITEB/Subs/24.20131120.AIIA.pdf.
66 Tim Kasser, and Kennon M. Sheldon. “Time Affluence as a Path toward Personal Happiness and Ethical Business Practice: Empirical Evidence from Four Studies,” Journal of Business Ethics 84 (2009): 244, DOI: 10.1007/s10551-008-9696-1.
67 Living in Australia, 24.
68 Rex L. Facer, and Lori L. Wadsworth. “Four-Day Work Weeks: Current Research and Practice,” Connecticut Law Review 42, no. 4 (May 2010): 1045.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 23 Costs
Congestion cost Australia $16.5 billion in 2015 69. This includes the time impact, pollution and operating costs. Compared to the other major Australian cities, Melbourne’s average speeds have experienced the largest decline and recorded the worst road variability in Australia 70. Congestion is expected to cost Melburnians an extra $1700 each year by 2030 71.
Decentralisation
The population of Victoria is projected to increase from 4.5 million in 2015 to 8.0 million in 2051 72. The combinatory factors of a growing population and the rising cost of housing 73 reduces the proportion of people who live within 30 minutes of their workplace 74. FWA decentralise access to quality jobs, improve matching between skills and work, whilst reducing the “population drain” from regional and remote communities 75.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
• The current ‘right to request’ recognises the importance of FWA for carers, parents, women, mature aged workers and workers with disabilities. Extending the ‘right to request’, improves flexible cultures, and is increasingly desired by younger employees;
• FWA can contribute to improved job control, reduced workplace stress, improved physical health, reduced absenteeism and presenteeism and greater productivity;
• FWA can contribute to safe distancing on public transport and reduced pressure on Victorian transport infrastructure.
69 Australian Automobile Association, Road Congestion in Australia, (Canberra ACT, 2018), 4, https://www.aaa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AAA- Congestion-Report-2018-FINAL.pdf.
70 Ibid, 16.
71 Infrastructure Victoria, Good Move: Fixing Transport Congestion, (2020), 6, https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ Good-Move-fixing-transport-congestion-Infrastructure-Victoria.pdf.
72 The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria in Future 2016:Population and Household Projections to 2051, ISBN 978-1-76047-193-4 (Brunswick 2016), 6, http://www.delwp.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/340886/Victoria-in-Future-2016-FINAL-web.pdf.
73 atrick Wood, “Commuting Times Soar With House Prices and Population Boom Blamed for Gridlock,” ABC News, July 30, 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/ news/2019-07-30/commuting-times-soar-with-house-prices-population-boom-blamed/11346258.
74 Good Move, 6.
75 Australian Information Industry Association, Inquiry in the Opportunities for People to Use Telecommuting and E-business to Work Remotely in Rural and Regional Victoria: Response from AIIA, (2013), 4, https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/rrc/ITEB/Subs/24.20131120.AIIA.pdf.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 24 4. COVID-19 as a Catalyst for Change
Flexible work is an important measure in responding to “natural disasters, terrorism or epidemic 76.” Promoting flexibility is particularly important in such events as employees are less likely to request flexible work in times of adverse economic conditions 77.
74% of Australian business were forced to operate under modified conditions in response to the coronavirus lockdown. A bifurcation of work has emerged between workplaces that are able to work from home and those that cannot. The focus has predominantly been on telecommuting, but other methods of flexibility have been promoted to stagger commuters and reduce density in public spaces78 .
FIGURE 6: Business operating conditions as a result of COVID-19 79
26% 74%
OPERATING AS OPERATING UNDER NORMAL MODIFIED CONDITIONS (A) (A,B)
(A) PROPORTIONS ARE OF BUSINESS CURRENTLY TRADING
(B) MODIFIED CONDITIONS INCLUDE SHIFTING MORE OPERATIONS ONLINE, OR OPERATING WITH A REDUCED WORKFORCE
76 Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses, 7.
77 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Megatrends: Flexible Work, (London, 2019), 4, https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/megatrends-report-flexible-working-1_tcm18-52769.pdf.
78 Steve Zemek, “Staggered start times to avoid COVID crush,” The Canberra Times, May 10, 2020. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6751709/staggered-start-times-to-avoid-covid-crush/#gsc.tab=0
79 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Business Indicators: Business Impacts of COVID-19, cat.no 5676.0.55.003 (Canberra, 2020), https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Latestproducts/5676.0.55.003Main%20Features2May%20 2020?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=5676.0.55.003&issue=May%202020&num=&view=.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 25 These restrictions are expected to impact motivations and attitudes towards work, career development, personal health 80 and the structure of work. Restrictions on trading, social distancing and travel are expected to have varied impacts on businesses. All three variables are expected to impact between 25-29% of businesses to a great extent.
FIGURE 7: Expected impact of government restrictions in the next two months 81
NOT AT SMALL TO MODERATE TO GREAT ALL (%) EXTENT (%) EXTENT (%)
Restrictions on trading 37 35 29
Social distancing restrictions 29 40 25
Travel restrictions 50 24 27
The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services advises those who can work from home must continue to do so 82. Therefore, businesses must establish long term strategies for maintaining alternative forms of work.
The rapidity in which workplaces have been forced to adapt demonstrates there is sufficient technological capacity to maintain business continuity in FWA. Flexible structures are integral for state-wide agility in times of crisis and an important factor in transitioning from COVID-19 restrictions.
80 Daniel Spurk, and Caroline Straub. “Flexible Employment Relationships and Careers in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Journal of Vocational Behaviour 199 (2020): 3, DOI: 10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103435.
81 Business Indicators
82 “Work and Study,” Victorian Department of Health and Human Services,2020, https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/work-and-study-restrictions-covid-19#can-i-go-to-work.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 26 5. Barriers to Flexible Work
COVID-19 has challenged the ‘normal’ model of work. Workplaces have been forced to employ FWA in order to adapt promptly and in doing so have demonstrated the barriers to flexibility are largely that of misconception. Addressing these barriers is necessary in transitioning to a new normal of work and promoting a better culture of flexibility.
FIGURE 8: Barriers to Flexible Work
DIFFICULTY OF IMPLEMENTATION
• NATURE OF WORK DEEMED UNSUITABLE • INADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE • ANTICIPATED COSTS
PRODUCTIVITY AND WORKPLACE CULTURE
• A LACK OF SUPERVISION • REDUCED ENGAGEMENT • LOSS OF ‘CORRIDOR’ CULTURE
SOCIO-CULTURAL BARRIERS
• PERCEIVED COMMITMENT • DIMINISHED OPPORTUNITY FOR PROGRESION • FLEXIBILITY AS A GENDERED ISSUE
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 27 5.1 DIFFICULTY IN IMPLEMENTATION
Nature of Work Deemed Unsuitable
Flexibility is not a one-size-fits-all method and is more common in service industries than manufacturing and primary industries 83. A lack of flexibility due to the ‘nature of work’ is most commonly cited for telework 84. Forming workplace strategies for FWA is important in overcoming this barrier. Of the 45% of employers in 2018 with policies for FWA, only 13% had established a strategy regarding implementation 85.
Historically, unions have been the dominant force in challenging the nature of work. The constant decline in union membership 86 and the transition to enterprise bargaining agreements limits ubiquitous application of FWA policy. Influencing the workplace culture towards flexibility is necessary in establishing better frameworks for negotiation between unions and industry.
Inadequate Infrastructure
Adequate information and communication technology (ICT) is considered essential for enabling flexible work. The dispersion of personal communication devices such as mobile phones and laptops in conjunction with the NBN means there are fewer technological barriers to the continuity of service and quality of work away from the workplace 87.
Availability of adequate ICT infrastructure can be undermined by a lack of knowledge as to how to operate it, largely known as ‘digital illiteracy’. Training can assist workplace adaption and suitability to FWA, particularly among small and medium enterprises (SME), and older workers. Currently, the greatest impediments to employees undertaking training are time and family commitments 88.
Anticipated Costs
An inquiry into the benefits of FWA by Nous Group detailed the budget savings of three Victorian organisations with flexible work strategies. Across five years, The Victorian Department of Environment,
83 Bernice Kotey, and Bishnu Sharma. “Predictors of Flexible Working Arrangement Provision in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).” International Journal of Human Resource Management 27, no. 22 (2016): 2765, DOI:10.1080/09585192.2015.1102160.
84 “Teleworking,” Australian Public Service Commission, 2018, https://www.apsc.gov.au/teleworking.
85 Flexible Work Good for Business? 5.
86 Geoff Gilfillan, and Chris McGann, Trends in Union Membership in Australia, Research Paper Series 2018-19, ISSN 2203-5249 (2018), Department of Parliamentary Services, 7, https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/6272064/upload_binary/6272064.pdf.
87 Inquiry in the Opportunities for People to Use Telecommuting and E-business to Work Remotely in Rural and Regional Victoria, 3
88 Pocock and Skinner, Work Life and Workplace Flexibility,70.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 28 Land, Water and Planning had an estimated $135 million net savings due to FWA, Mercy Health’s savings totaled $100 million and Wanon Water $1.6 million 89.
The cost of implementing FWA included IT expenses, onboarding burdens, management burdens and backfill for extended leave. These costs were consistently smaller than the savings gained by labour productivity, retention, reduced absenteeism and improved recruitment 90.
Without the large number of employees to share the administrative burden and workload, operational pressures can be particularly burdensome in SME 91. The rate of telework is higher among SME (34%) than overall rates of telework (30%) but is mainly informally arranged 92. Within informal agreements, FWA are more likely to be dictated by the needs of employer than employee 93.
The Nous FlexiWork Savings Calculator 94 enables workplaces to calculate the costs and savings of implementing flexible work. This can help businesses position the immediate costs within a greater context of benefits
5.2 PRODUCTIVITY AND WORKPLACE CULTURE
A Lack of Supervision
A key barrier to FWA is the prevailing belief that workers away from the office are out of “control”95 .
65% of managers in the Toshiba Mobility and Mistrust survey 96 cited the absence of supervision as the “most important impediment” to supporting FWA. Concern among management about what workers are doing when they are away from the office97 is an issue of trust and can increase pressure on flexible workers. This can blur work-life boundaries 98, contribute to workplace stress and higher rates of unpaid overtime.
89 Ibid,1.
90 Flexible Work Good for Business? 10.
91 Fair Work Amendment (Better Work/Life Balance) Bill 2012.
92 Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses, 7.
93 Kotey and Sharma, “Predictors of Flexible Working Arrangement Provision in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs),” 2755.
94 “Felix: The Nous FlexiWork Savings Calculator,” Nous Group, https://nousgroup.shinyapps.io/Felix_the_Nous_Flexiwork_Savings_Calculator/.
95 Anjeline Omondi, “Flexible Work Schedules: A Critical Review of Literature,” Strategic Journals 5, no.4 (November 2018): 2080, https://www.researchgate. net/publication/329555638.
96 Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses, 26.
97 Elisabeth Michielsens, Cecilie Bingham, and Linda Clarke, “Managing Diversity Through Flexible Work Arrangements: Management Perspectives,” Employee Relations 36, no. 1 (2014): 61, doi: 10.1108/ER-06-2012-0048.
98 Michielsens, Bingham and Clarke, “Managing Diversity Through Flexible Work Arrangements,” 52.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 29 FIGURE 9: Hours worked for APS employees teleworking, 2013 99
40% 35% 33% 29% 27% 22%
8% 4%
75HRS OR LESS 70 – 79 HOURS 80 – 99 HOURS 100 OR MORE
TELEWORK NO TELEWORK
A census conducted among APS employees found that teleworkers reported more hours worked than employees who did not telework. The rates of overwork reported by teleworkers was similarly displayed in the UK where 69% of teleworkers reported an increase in their working hours 100.
Reduced Engagement
Flexibility is often seen as a ‘gift’ given in accordance with proven commitment 101.
Engagement is therefore seen as both a prerequisite and an outcome of FWA.APS employees who teleworked, as displayed in Figure 10, recorded higher levels of engagement with their job, team, supervisor and overall agency in 2012-2013 than those without FWA.
This has been attributed to employees having a greater sense of autonomy over when and how they work which contributes to an increased sense of meaningfulness and relatedness to the workplace 102.
100 Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses, 30.
101 Michielsens, Bingham and Clarke, “Managing Diversity Through Flexible Work Arrangements”, 61.
102 Milena Nikolova, and Femke Cnossen. “What Makes Work Meaningful and Why Economists Should Care About It,”, GLO Discussion Paper, no. 509 (April 2020): 5, http://hdl.handle.net/10419/215519.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 30 FIGURE 10: Employee engagement for employees teleworking 2012-2013 103
8
7
6
5
4
3
2 BOARDINGS PER DAY
1
0
JOB TEAM SUPERVISOR AGENCY
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT COMPONENT
2012 TELEWORK 2013 TELEWORK 2012 NO TELEWORK 2013 NO TELEWORK
Loss of ‘Corridor Culture’
The communal spaces and “hallway conversations” provided at a central workplace can provide social gains and opportunities for impromptu meetings 104. FWA can limit spontaneity but benefit workplace relations due to improved job satisfaction 105.
103 “Teleworking.”
104 Kimberly D. Elsbach, Dan M. Cable, and Jeffrey W. Sherman. “How Passive ‘Face Time’ Affects Perceptions of Employees: Evidence of Spontaneous Trait Interference,” Human Relations 63, no. 6 (2010): 754, DOI: 10.1177/0018726709353139.
105 Australian Workplace Relations Study: First Findings Report, 47.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 31 5.3 SOCIO-CULTURAL BARRIERS
Perceived Commitment
‘Out of sight, out of mind’ is a double negative in many FWA. For employers it represents a lack of control over workplace engagement and for employees it can be perceived as undermining appraisal of their commitment and promotional prospects. The busiest worker has come to be seen as the most successful 106 and the longest hours are supposedly spent by the most committed 107.
54% employees in the Toshiba Mobility and Mistrust survey thought their colleagues with FWA do not ‘work as hard as they do’ 108. Assumptions that long hours are necessary to progress 109 is an important cultural factor, particularly for new employees. Role modelling is influential in deconstructing the relationship of success with time spent in the office110 .
Diminished Opportunity for Progression
When flexibility is not “central in the national dialogue”111 both men and women are reluctant to request FWA due to concerns that it will be poorly perceived. Skinner and Pocock found that men are worried it could have negative impacts on career advancement and earnings 112 whilst an OECD study found half of mothers with children aged 9 to 24 months believed it would be viewed negatively by employers and harm future opportunities for progression 113.
These concerns are not unfounded, as flexible workers, particularly those who work away from the office, may receive poorer performance ratings compared to those in the office114 . High rates of direct and indirect contact in the workplace are associated with ‘dependable’ and ‘committed’ 115 character appraisals, which can privilege employees without FWA in the event of promotion.
106 Helen Lewis, “From Evening Email Bans to a Four-Day Week, Why It’s Time to Rethink Our Addiction to Work: The Five-Day Week Feels Natural, Immortal, Set in Stone, Even Though it Only Arrived With The Industrial Revolution,” New Statesman 148, no: 5457 (February 2019): 21.
107 Ellen E. Kossek, and Mary D. Lee, “Implementing a Reduced Workload Arrangement to Retain High Talent: A Case Study,” The Psychologist-Manager Journal 11, no. 1 (January 2008): 1, DOI: 10.1080/10887150801966995.
108 Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses, 26.
109 Michielsens, Bingham and Clarke, “Managing Diversity Through Flexible Work Arrangements”, 50.
110 “It’s About Time: Striking the Balance in the Workplace,” Australian Human Rights Commission, 2009, https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/its-about-time-chapter-4.
111 Ruppanner, Lee, and Huffman, “Do Mothers Benefit from Flexible Work?” 172.
112 Skinner and Pocock, “Flexibility and Work-Life Interference in Australia,” 73.
113 OECD, Be Flexible: Background Brief on how Workplace Flexibility Can Help European Employees to Balance Work and Family, (2016), 14 , https://www. oecd.org/els/family/Be-Flexible-Backgrounder-Workplace-Flexibility.pdf.
114 Elsbach, Cable, and Sherman, “How Passive ‘Face Time’ Affects Perceptions of Employees”, 754.
115 Ibid, 746.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 32 Flexibility as a Gendered Issue
To achieve gender equity, as stated by the Victorian Government Gender Equity Bill, broader workplace and family strategies are required. Nonetheless, flexibility is still predominantly perceived as a women’s issue 116. This encourages a culture where “men do not feel entitled to family support, while women do not feel entitled to career advancement.” 117 Currently, women overwhelmingly carry the burden of care equating to $206 billion and half of Victoria’s GSP 118. Partnering FWA with broader social policies such as paternal leave schemes have been employed in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in a ‘use it or lose it’ method to incentivise male equity in caregiving 119 .
Other initiatives have suggested improving the quality of part-time work and reducing the gender pay gap to better distribute unpaid work between men and women and enable heteronormative couples to make parenting decisions free from financial bias 120. Indicators for the quality of part-time work include “access to training, health insurance and pension benefits, career options, pay security, working time arrangements and job satisfaction” 121.
CASE STUDY 1: Part Time Work
The Wet aanpassing arbeidsduur (Working Hours (Adjustment) Act) in the Netherlands permits all employees the right to request a change to their working hours. Refusal can only occur on the basis of proven harm to the organisation 122. The right to adjust working hours within the same role and without a loss of benefits, has been identified as a requirement of decent work 123. It challenges the stigma associated with reduced hours and addresses involuntary underemployment when employees are forced to move into lower quality jobs in order to reduce their hours.
116 Ashlee Borgkvist et al. “‘I Might Be a Bit of a Front Runner’: An Analysis of Men’s Uptake of Flexible Work Arrangements and Masculine Identity,” Gender, Work and Organization 25, no. 6 (November 2018): 705, doi:10.1111/gwao.12240.
117 Ibid, 711.
118 Government of Victoria, Safe and Strong: Achievement Report, (2019),4, https://content.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-12/317%20DPC%20 Safe%20and%20Strong%20Achievement%20Report%202019%206%20web.pdf.
119 ”It’s About Time.”
120 House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations, Chapter 10 Women’s Choices?, (2009), https://www.aph.gov. au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House_of_Representatives_Committees?url=ewr/payequity/report/chapter10.htm.
121 Anne Roeters, and Lyn Craig. “Part-time Work, Women’s Work-Life Conflict, and Job Satisfaction: A Cross National Comparison of Australia, The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and The United Kingdom,” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 55, no.3 (2014) :187, DOI: 10.1177/0020715214543541.
122 Roeters and Craig, “Part-time Work, Women’s Work-Life Conflict, and Job Satisfaction,” 191.
123 Ibid.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 33 CHAPTER SUMMARY
• The rapid response to COVID-19 has demonstrated that the previous barriers to FWA of implementation, productivity and culture are far from insurmountable;
• Adequate training can assist SME and older workers to employ FWA;
• Flexible workers are more engaged and report higher levels of meaningfulness and relatedness than workers without FWA;
• The cost of implementing flexibility is far outweighed by the associated savings;
• Inflexible cultures towards work can misjudge flexible workers as lacking commitment, and undermine their opportunities for promotion;
• As long as flexibility is permitted rather than encouraged, it will remain highly gendered, and undermine equality in paid and unpaid labour distribution.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 34 6. Flexibility and the Victorian Public Service
6.1 JURISDICTION LIMITATIONS
Amending the Fair Work Act 2009 is beyond the jurisdiction of this report. Nonetheless, the Victorian Government can disperse greater flexible policies state-wide through a model of procurement. The Gender Equity Bill is an example of change through procurement. The Bill, which aims to promote gender equality across Victoria, is applicable to public service, public entities, special bodies, local councils, Court Services Victoria, universities and the Office of Public Prosecution124 .
Accordingly, these organisations are required to develop gender equality plans every four years, report progress according to that plan every two years, and consider gender equality in the provision of policy, programs and services 125.
This model is applicable to improving the accessibility and uptake of FWA. Changes to the Victorian Public Service flexible work policy can likewise be administered to the aforementioned public bodies. Similarly, plans, progress reports and service provision can be implemented in alignment with the VPS commitment to improving flexible work policy and culture across the state.
6.2 CURRENT APPROACH TO FLEXIBILITY
The VPS aims to “cultivate a culture” of flexibility through the “all roles flex” model. The ‘right to request’, however, still mirrors national Fair Work policy. This shows an incongruence between intention and action regarding flexibility. The commitment to “mainstreaming flexibility 126” should be reflected in ‘mainstreaming’ access to request and processes of appeal.
124 “Gender Equality Act 2020,” State Government of Victoria, 2020, https://www.vic.gov.au/gender-equality-bill.
125 Ibid.
126 Victorian Public Sector Commission, Mainstreaming flexibility Across the VPS, (Melbourne, 2016), https://vpsc.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ Mainstreaming-flexibility-across-the-VPS-Guiding-Principles.pdf.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 35 CASE STUDY 2: The Right to Request
Following an inquiry into the state of flexible work in the United Kingdom, a number of changes were actioned in 2014. These included:
• Extending the ‘right to request’ to all workers;
• Decreasing the period of time before a worker can request to 26 weeks;
• The formation of an employment tribunal that complaints can be made to on the basis of unfair refusal;
• A duty for employers to consider and make clear flexibility when advertising a job;
• Creation of a joint industry task force on flexible working.
Consequently, “greater provision led to greater use 127”. An estimated 290,000 additional requests were made for FWA, of which 78% were expected to be approved, 25% appealed and 2% successful in appeal 128.
6.3 TRIALLING A NEW-NORMAL
The public sector can instigate changes to the nature of work by role modelling new workplace policies, which can then be normalised through private sector adoption 129.
Current work structures pay on the basis of hours worked rather than on performance measures. This has contributed to an increasing gap between productivity and wage growth 130 . The Four Day Working Week (4DWW) proposedly minimises this gap by reducing the hours of work without an equivalent loss in remuneration.
127 House of Commons, Flexible Working: Briefing Paper, Number 01086 (UK, 2018), 19, https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01086/.
128 Department of Business Innovation and Skills, Extending the Right to Request Flexible Working to All: Impact Assessment,( London, 2011),21
129 Annabel Crabb. “Men at Work: Australia’s Parenthood Trap,” Quarterly Essay 75 (2019): 20, ISSN 1832 0953.
130 University of Sydney Workplace Research Centre, Shifting Risk: Work and Working Life in Australia, (Sydney, NSW, 2010), 16 ,https://www.actu.org.au/ media/578888/Shifting%20Risk%20report.pdf.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 36 CASE STUDY 3 131: 4DWW
New Zealand estate-planning firm, Perpetual Guardian, successfully trialled a 4DWW. The 8-week trial consisted of 240 staff shortening the working week to four days without any loss to pay or benefits. The employees nominated which day they would take ‘off’.
Across the trial, job performance was maintained, workplace stress lowered, team engagement increased, and workers reported improved work-life balance. The company has continued with the 4DWW and impelled trials elsewhere.
Following an inquest by Fiona Patten of the Reason Party, The Parliamentary Budget Office has detailed the possibilities of a 4DWW trial over 12 months in the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance.
The trial would involve:
• Full time employees to work four days a week;
• 95% of current salary to be maintained;
• 80% of annual leave to be maintained.
The cost of such a trial is estimated to increase “the state’s budgeted net position by $3.8 million” due to reduced operating expenses and employee expenses 132.
Trialling the Four Day Working Week within a broader culture of flexibility, can establish a new normal of work with improved productivity, engagement and work life balance 133.
131 The Four-day Week, White Paper: Guidelines For An Outcome Based Trial Raising Productivity and Engagement, (New Zealand, 2019), p, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c3e9f3555b02cbca8b01aab/t/5c6639880d929730b229a363/1550203293110/Four-Day+Week+White+Paper +February+2019+final.pdf.
132 Parliamentary Budget Office, Four-Day-Work-Week Trial, 2020, https://sway.office.com/kyk86wFnLrTQ7hID/.
133 International Labour Organisation, Working Time and The Future of Work, ISBN 978-92-2-132219-1. (Geneva, 2018), 26, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/ groups/public/---dgreports/---cabinet/documents/publication/wcms_649907.pdf.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 37 Photo by https://unsplash.com/@nathanansell THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 38 7. Recommendations and Conclusion
7.1 RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation 1: Role model greater flexibility
1.1 Extend the ‘right to request’ to all workers;
1.2 Reduce the 12-month probationary period before a request can be made to 26 weeks;
1.3 Form a body of appeal to address refused requests, separate to discrimination appeals;
1.4 Trial a Four Day Working Week within the VPS.
Recommendation 2: Enable flexibility through infrastructure and training
2.1 Invest in the development and distribution of micro-credentials for workers that are mature, rural and in SME;
2.2 Invest in developing rural and remote community centres as locations for telecommuting.
Recommendation 3: Deconstruct misconceptions of flexibility through targeted promotion
3.1 Address the gender disparity of flexible work through targeted media campaigns;
3.2 Promote resources such as flexitime calculator to assist business in understanding and adapting to the costs of FWAs.
Recommendation 4: Incentivise flexibility
4.1 Formation of state-wide industry awards, such as the previously held National Work Life Balance awards;
4.2 Encourage businesses to address the likelihood of flexibility when advertising new jobs.
THE NEW NORMAL? A FLEXIBLE RESPONSE TO COVID-19 IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 39 CONCLUSION
The way Victorians live, and work has been temporarily confronted by the coronavirus pandemic. This report evaluates the value of flexibility, how COVID-19 has challenged previous resistance to flexibility and the role that the Victorian Public Service can have in establishing a new normal of work in Victoria.
Flexible work arrangements have been found to alleviate congestion, enable safe social distancing, boost productivity, attract diversity in employment, respond to workplace stress, redistribute unpaid labour and improve work-life balance.
The Victorian Government can change the culture towards flexibility by:
• Increasing access and process of appeal for all workers through public procurement;
• Role modelling reduced hours and a potential four-day work week;
• Addressing the barriers to flexible work arrangements;
• Promoting and incentivising flexibility;
• Collaborating with industry bodies to encourage flexibility across sectors.
This report does not propose every Victorian should have FWA. Rather, it demonstrates that improving a culture of flexibility is valuable, feasible and a pertinent response to the impact of COVID-19 on Victorian workplaces.
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