Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

FAIR WORK ACT 2009 - SECT 65

Employee may request change in working arrangements

  (1)   If:

  (a)   any of the circumstances referred to in subsection   (1A) apply to an employee; and

  (b)   the employee would like to change his or her working arrangements because of those circumstances;

then the employee may request the employer for a change in working arrangements relating to those circumstances.

Note:   Examples of changes in working arrangements include changes in hours of work, changes in patterns of work and changes in location of work.

  (1A)   The following are the circumstances:

  (aa)   the employee is pregnant;

  (a)   the employee is the parent, or has responsibility for the care, of a child who is of school age or younger;

  (b)   the employee is a carer (within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2010 );

  (c)   the employee has a disability;

  (d)   the employee is 55 or older;

  (e)   the employee is experiencing family and domestic violence;

  (f)   the employee provides care or support to a member of the employee's immediate family, or a member of the employee's household, who requires care or support because the member is experiencing family and domestic violence.

  (1B)   To avoid doubt, and without limiting subsection   (1), an employee who:

  (a)   is a parent, or has responsibility for the care, of a child; and

  (b)   is returning to work after taking leave in relation to the birth or adoption of the child;

may request to work part - time to assist the employee to care for the child.

  (2)   The employee is not entitled to make the request unless:

  (a)   for an employee other than a casual employee--the employee has completed at least 12 months of continuous service with the employer immediately before making the request; or

  (b)   for a casual employee--the employee:

  (i)   is, immediately before making the request, a regular casual employee of the employer who has been employed on that basis for a sequence of periods of employment during a period of at least 12 months; and

  (ii)   has a reasonable expectation of continuing employment by the employer on a regular and systematic basis.

  (2A)   For the purposes of applying paragraph   (2)(a) in relation to an employee who has had their employment changed under Division   4A of Part   2 - 2, any period for which the employee was a regular casual employee of the employer is taken to be continuous service for the purposes of that paragraph.

Formal requirements

  (3)   The request must:

  (a)   be in writing; and

  (b)   set out details of the change sought and of the reasons for the change.

Agreeing to the request