By Lily Elson
Approximately 12 per cent of the Australian workforce is made up of working carers. Balancing work and caring can be difficult, and as an employer, you must know your obligations to support your employees who are carers. According to the Carer Recognition Act 2010, a carer is defined as an individual who provides personal care, support, and assistance to another individual who needs it because that other individual:
- has a disability; or
- has a medical condition (including a terminal or chronic illness); or
- has a mental illness; or
- is frail and aged.
Several legislative instruments prevent discrimination against a person because of their caring responsibilities, including the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Under the Sex Discrimination Act, it is unlawful for employers to discriminate against a person because of their responsibility to care for a family member.
In this article, we dive into working carers, explain how flexible working arrangements can support employees, and share why employers must know their obligations.
Implementing flexible working arrangements
The National Employment Standards (NES) outline the minimum entitlements that must be provided to all employees. Under the NES, employees who are defined as carers under the Carer Recognition Act can request flexible working arrangements once they have been with an employer for at least 12 months. A flexible working arrangement may include a change in hours, including start and finish times, the ability to work remotely or from a different location, or a change to the pattern of work.
Employees must make such requests in writing and include an explanation as to why the request is being made. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to carefully consider the employee’s request and you must respond to the employee’s request within 21 days outlining whether the request is approved or refused. While you can reject a request on reasonable business grounds, you must explain in your response to the employee the reasons for the refusal. It’s best practice to approach flexible working arrangement requests in a way that supports the employee and finds a solution that works for all.
Carer’s leave entitlements
Under the Fair Work Act 2009, full-time employees have access to 10 paid days of personal or carer’s leave each year, and part-time employees accrue this on a pro-rata basis. This leave is designed to be used where an employee is required to provide care or support to a member of their immediate family or a member of their household who requires support because of a personal illness or injury or because of an emergency. Casual employees are also able to take two days of unpaid carer’s leave per occasion. The same unpaid provisions are available to permanent employees if they have exhausted their paid leave entitlements.
What else should I consider?
There are ways for you to support employees outside of employees’ statutory entitlements. Creating an environment where employees are comfortable in coming forward to discuss issues and where they feel supported is all part of a healthy workplace. Employers may also consider implementing an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to further support employees.
It’s important to remember that discrimination against an employee based on caring duties may lead to a General Protections claim being made. Employees cannot be discriminated against for having caring duties, and situations, where this is a factor, should be handled delicately.
If any information in this article has raised any questions about supporting employees with their caring responsibilities or you have another matter you need advice on, please reach out to our experts via our 24/7 Telephone Advisory Service.
Lily Elson is a Workplace Relations Advisor at FCB and HR Assured. She provides commercially minded advice to various clients on workplace and employment matters. Lily has a particular interest in retail industry compliance and assisting employers to mitigate the risk arising from employment disputes.