Regular part-time work
Regular part-time work is one of a range of flexible working options which can be negotiated between an employee and an employer to help workers better balance their work and personal lives. It has the potential to make better use of human resources, while meeting changing work requirements.
What is Regular Part-time Work?
Workplace relations legislation
Benefits to organisations
Benefits to employees
Introducing regular part-time work
Managers of regular part-time staff
What is Regular Part-time Work?
A regular part-time employee is a worker who works less than full-time ordinary hours, has reasonably predictable hours of work, and is entitled to employment entitlements associated with permanent employment, such as sick leave and annual leave, on a pro rata basis.
A regular part-time employee is different from a casual employee. A casual employee’s employment is often characterised either by informality and/or irregularity. Each work period of a casual employee is regarded as a separate and distinct period of service. Consequently a casual employee is not typically entitled to sick leave, annual leave or long service leave. A casual employee is entitled to a casual loading in lieu of these entitlements.
Workplace relations legislation
Agreements made under the Government’s Workplace Relations Act 1996 provide a very effective means for introducing policies and practices, such as regular part-time employment, which help employees balance their work and personal lives. Under WorkChoices, agreement making has been further simplified and streamlined. For more information about agreement making, visit the Work Choices website.
Under the Workplace Relations system, all federal awards will be required to provide for regular part-time employment as part of the award rationalisation process. A regular part-time employee is defined as someone who:
(a) works less than full-time ordinary hours; and
(b) has reasonably predictable hours of work; and
(c) receives, on a pro-rata basis, equivalent pay and conditions to those specified in an award or awards for full-time employees who do the same kind of work.
Benefits to organisations
Flexible working arrangements such as regular part-time work can help employers maximise their human resources.
Specific benefits include:
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retention of skilled and valued staff and a reduction in labour turnover, easing labour shortages, and thereby reducing recruitment and training costs;
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reduced absenteeism, by relieving stresses which employees face when combining full-time work and other responsibilities such as family commitments;
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attracting new staff by being an 'employer of choice' with flexible work practices;
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higher productivity, motivation and commitment from staff; and
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work flexibility for management to match staff hours with work-flow requirements.
The use of regular part-time workers can also contribute to an improvement in the overall skills base of the community and, through increased productivity, improve Australia's competitive economic position.
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Benefits to employees
Regular part-time arrangements can allow employees to combine work with family responsibilities, or with study or other interests outside work, as well as allowing people nearing retirement to gradually ease out of the workforce. It also provides employment for those whose health, age or disability would make it difficult to work full-time.
It can:
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attract and retain mature age workers and other employees who want to work less than full-time hours;
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enable staff to maintain and improve their skills and develop their careers, making it easier for them to move into full-time work at a later stage;
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facilitate re-entry into the workforce for those who have had career breaks; and
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offer employment security and regularity in working times for workers.
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Introducing regular part-time work
Regular part-time work will be most successful if changes are implemented after all affected employees have had the opportunity to contribute to the development of a policy, and have a clear understanding of the objectives of the arrangement.
A useful starting point in introducing regular part-time work is to establish an organisational policy. This should accurately reflect industrial arrangements, e.g. workplace agreements or relevant legislation.
Policy guidelines could address issues such as:
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the application procedure, and the rights of staff and management to initiate proposals;
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eligibility criteria;
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equality of access;
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feedback on reasons for non-approval;
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terms and conditions of employment;
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the rights (if any) and process for reverting to full-time work;
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the need to ensure regular part-time workers are not seen as 'second class' employees;
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mechanisms and options for promoting the integration of part-time staff, including access to staff development and training, career structures, and communication and consultation mechanisms; and
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ways of addressing any grievances which may arise.
Once the policy has been developed, consideration should be given to how employees are informed about its existence and provisions. You may also wish to consider including the policy in a formal workplace agreement.
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Managers of regular part-time staff
The success of a regular part-time work arrangement depends on the willingness of supervisors and managers of regular part-time staff to make it work, and their understanding of the issues involved.
Training may be necessary to inform managers of the reasons for introducing regular part-time work and the potential benefits to all parties, and to provide them with skills to change attitudes and resolve any conflicts that may arise from the introduction of the new arrangement.
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