Work life balance can be a juggling act.
Eighty-eight percent of working professionals say are more likely to consider a role if flexible working arrangements are on the table. A survey carried out by the recruitment firm Robert Walters found that 40 percent of those surveyed would turn down a job offer if the organisation could not meet their needs for flexibility.
With technology at our disposal, it’s difficult to make a case these days that computer and phone-based roles can only be done in the office.
Business flexibility can help your employees meet their needs, so they have what they need to succeed.
Handling requests for remote working
The right to request flexible working arrangements has been available to all New Zealand employees since 2018.
Employees have the right to request a variation to their working arrangements and employers have one month to respond to that request. Variations include changing hours, days and location of work.
If you’re an employer, you must consider all requests in good faith and can only refuse them on particular grounds:
- Inability to re-organise work among existing staff
- Inability to recruit additional staff
- Detrimental impact on quality
- Detrimental impact on performance
- Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work
- Planned structural changes
- Burden of additional costs
- Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
It’s up to employers and employees to work together to find arrangements that work for you both. If you haven’t got one already, having a ‘work from home policy’ will help you balance the needs of your business with your obligations as an employer.