Balancing Work and Family: the time to act is now.

By ACIRRT

The call for flexible working conditions to allow workers to balance family demands and work commitments has resonated far and wide in Australia, but the policy interventions have been slow in coming.

The policymakers have pointed to the lack of knowledge of what is going on at a workplace level as an obstacle to development. This is because there has not been a comprehensive survey of workplaces since the 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS). Tony Abbott abandoned survey during his tenure as minister.

The Victorian Government has recently released The Challenge of Balancing Work and Family Responsibilities, based on an ACIRRT survey of Victorian organisations employing 5 or more employees and a household based survey of 800 employees.

The findings reveal a demand for flexible working time arrangements. Nearly 25% of all employees indicated they took time off work to care for a sick relative, and 41% sad they had taken time off in the past year to deal with personal tasks. The survey did not indicate whether the leave to care for a sick relative was obtained through existing sick leave or annual leave entitlements or as an additional leave entitlement. The majority indicated the time off was paid and a quarter of respondents got unpaid leave.

The report revealed that paid maternity leave was still uncommon. The need for time off for caring responsibilities or personal demands was a big issue and the majority of employers surveyed recognised this demand and gave the time off, often as an informal arrangement. The report highlighted the demand from men for recognition and time off for caring and personal duties.

Another feature was the growing schism between award only employees and those covered by certified agreements. This was highlighted by the much more common provision of paid maternity leave under agreements.

(Industrial Relations Victoria (2003) The State of Working Victoria Project Paper no. 1 "Challenge of Balancing Work and Family Responsibilities

(Thomson CPD Workplace Intelligence. October 2003)