Members are entitled to flexible start and finish times and the accrual of flex hours whether working remotely or at the office.

The PSA understands members at the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) are being directed onto some work patterns that are in breach of the Flexible Working Practices Award Provisions and Flexible Working Hours Policies.

The PSA has raised this with Human Resources (HR) and reminds members that they are entitled to the flexible work practices. This is not limited to flexible working hours when working from home, but also options such as remote working, job sharing, ‘agile working’ and other practices to assist in a fair and equitable work/life balance. For further options speak with your manager or HR.

If you are being directed to start or finish at a specific time or told that there’s no room for flexible working practices, contact the PSA on 1300 772 679 as this is not correct. The use of ‘operation requirements’ is not sufficient to prevent staff from having access to flexible work practices.

DCJ staff have an industrial right to flexible working practices, know your rights:

1. Standard Flexible Working Hours Policy. This allows for staff to start and finish within the Bandwidth (7:00am-7:00pm) as long as they are working during Coretime (9:30am-3:30pm excluding lunch). This may be subject to discussion to enable the office and team to operate appropriately and allow for fairness across the team.
2. If you are working from home, you should have the same access to flexible start and finish times and reasonable accrual of flex, as you would if working from the office.
3. Flexible Working Arrangements are part of your Award Conditions. These allow for an agreement to be made between staff and management to allow for work/life balance. This includes but is not limited to work from home, part time or job share arrangements, varied start and finish time and other options.

Management cannot simply quote “operational needs” to justify a blanket rule to deny employees access to flexible working practices. Operational needs can be met without imposing blanket restrictions and it is a managerial responsibility to effectively manage teams to facilitate this.

If you have been advised that you are not allowed to access flexible working practices, please contact the PSA for assistance.