if the process takes too long to respond to an emergency or short-term request). You will not receive a reply. Canada Revenue Agency (16) Canadian Heritage (17) Government of Alberta (190) Government of British Columbia (197) If you believe you have been, for example, dismissed, demoted, suspended, or disciplined for making a request, you may file a complaint to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB). . . Stakeholders made suggestions about other ways to foster proactive compliance. Hours of work averaging arrangements. They also pointed out, as did some labour organizations, that when short-term flexibility is required, there is often not enough time for a longer, more formalized process because the employee needs a response as quickly as possible. Dentons 0 Liked this Article. Their view was that this would allow employers to make better-informed decisions when faced with competing requests, or to propose other accommodations if the initial request cannot be accommodated. Penalties must be meaningful, but fair and applied consistently.”. In this day and age, an Inuk hunter requires considerable funds to purchase hunting equipment and supplies. Simply put, flexible work arrangements are alternate arrangements or schedules from the traditional working day and week. 1. Canada. 16Other variations include reduced hours or part time employment and banking of or annualized hours. : Em8-32/2016E-PDF "The Government of Canada recognizes that, in order to reform federal policy and deliver real results to Canadians, meaningful engagement must be an integral part of the policy developmental process. In addition, they said that, if a request is determined to have been unreasonably denied, it should be honoured, but that the employer should not be required to compensate the employee. In addition, one labour organization, three individual Canadians and two academics provided other kinds of written documentation related to flex work, such as a copy of a publication. Government’s Flexible Work Arrangements Policy and Hours . Flexible work arrangements : a discussion paper. The importance of providing nutritious foods of choice to the community, the role of hunters and the strengthening and passing on of cultural practices should be valued and accommodated, just as much as the wage economy.”, “Flexible work arrangements, leaves and other benefits for employees serve as important recruitment and retention tools, and banks are very cognizant of that fact as they compete with other employers for talent.”. A Flexible Averaging Agreement (FAA) is required any time an employee requests to work flexible time. As an employee, you may exercise your right to request a flexible work arrangement under the Code. They also suggested that a statutory right could potentially interfere with existing flex work arrangements, including those negotiated in collective agreements. sharing lessons learned across organizations and among employer and employee organizations and other stakeholders; joint employer-employee committees on work-life balance that could provide a forum for discussions on flex work in a given workplace, including with non-unionized employees, and could develop tools to assist individual employers and employees in having conversations about flexible work arrangements and preparing work plans detailing how new arrangements will work; and. While least mentioned overall, some survey respondents reported that employers offered a variety of paid and unpaid leave options, including short-term and long-term sick and family leaves, income averaging and education and bereavement leaves. This allows them to achieve better work and home life balance. They pointed to the benefits of flexible hours or a change in shift or work location for these individuals. F. lex-time is a flexible work arrangement whereby employees’ . Labour organizations and advocacy groups stressed that under no circumstances should a flexible work arrangement be forced upon an employee by their employer, nor should employees be expected to use flexible work schedules and arrangements as a substitute for sick leave or accessible child care. Employers and employer associations stressed the financial implications of flex work, pointing specifically to the costs of hiring temporary workers to backfill employees who have adjusted their work schedules or taken leave and the costs of providing technologies for employees working off-site. 17 However, they also indicated that flexible leaves are more difficult to accommodate because it is hard to fill vacancies given the nature of the local labour market and that, as a result, in most cases when an employee goes on leave, their position remains unfilled. The impact of flexible work arrangements can also reach beyond the benefits derived by the organization and contribute to the development of a sustainable society. Implementing a flexible averaging agreement. periods of good health interrupted, often unpredictably, by periods of illness or disability that affect their ability to work. There was broad recognition during the consultations that a right to request flex work is not a right to work flexibly and that there are legitimate business reasons for which an employer should be permitted to turn down a request. less than 25 employees) be exempted from the right to request as those organizations have less financial and human resource capacity to support flexible working. III. The impact of flexible work arrangements can also reach beyond the benefits derived by the organization and contribute to the development of a sustainable society. The Code provides other rights and protections that help employees achieve work life balance, such as: Rights and protections in support of work life balance can benefit both employees and employers by: As an employee, you may exercise your right to request a flexible work arrangement under the Code. One of the strongest messages heard during the consultations, from survey respondents, labour and employer organizations, academics, advocacy groups and others, was that establishing a legal right to request will not on its own enhance flexibility for workers; complementary shifts in workplace culture are also required. The Government of Canada recognizes that Canadians need help to balance their professional and personal responsibilities, and that is why we launched consultations as the first step in bringing the right to request flexible work arrangements to Canada. Twenty written submissions were received in response to the discussion paper. The following 20 individuals and organizations made written submissions in response to the flex work discussion paper: Advocacy groups, community groups and other organizations. Flex time is usually arranged in advance with the employee and employer or supervisor and a set range of start and finish times are established. To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. Working with patients to bring the right to request flexible work arrangements to Canada. The response to COVID-19 on the part of organizations across Canada has demonstrated that flexible working arrangements can work. Employees can return to regular times of work by providing at least one week of notice to their employer. . More generally, a number of stakeholders urged the federal government to emulate the best elements of the approaches on flex work in place in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Flexible Work Arrangements. Government to roll out new measures to help companies adopt flexible work arrangements People walk along Raffles Place business district in Singapore on September 5, 2018. Flexible work arrangements not only affect your ability to attract top talent. Of all the challenges discussed during the consultations, workplace practices and culture generated perhaps the most interest and the strongest views. About 27 percent (or 226) of those who responded to the survey question about whether they had asked for flex work in the past five years indicated that they had not. A number of common misconceptions about flex work were identified, for example, that an employee with a flexible work schedule is less productive or not dedicated to their work, or that flex work is bad for business. And we are open to further enhancement, on a [firm]-by-firm basis, as appropriate in the circumstances . Most employers and employer associations that participated in the roundtables indicated that they normally try to respond positively to requests for flex work. Flexible work arrangements will not increase any salary, benefit or net operating cost or defer or accrue any salary or benefit obligation. Joe Nunes: “In its budget, the federal government announced it would give federally regulated workers the right to request flexible work arrangements, such as … Tweets also asked Canadians about whether they use flex work and asked employers and employees in specific sectors about the impacts of flexible work arrangements in their workplaces. The Government of Canada recently completed a consultation with employers, employer associations, union and labour organizations, and advocacy groups as part of its pledge to amend the Canada Labour Code to allow workers in federally regulated sectors to formally request flexible work arrangements … on the number of requests received and approved as is or with modification and the number turned down). Since the beginning … Footnote 1 In addition, stakeholders and survey respondents pointed to a more fundamental need to adjust norms, attitudes and behaviours related to flex work. Building on the theme of “one size does not fit all,” several employer and labour organizations and at least one think tank highlighted that the need for flex work is often unpredictable and that it is important for workplaces to have flexible work arrangements that respond to episodic, short-term and longer-term flexibility requirements. The proposed changes will apply only to federally regulated enterprises which fall under the Canada Labour Code. Many stakeholders, academics and survey respondents contended that, beyond changing workplace policies and practices, education and training—for both employers and employees—must be a priority in catalyzing cultural change. REMOTE WORK If you want your employees to save commuting time and costs, offer them remote work. On the other hand, if they are working, they do not have as much flexibility to go hunting. An employee should not be required to justify their request but should be given the opportunity to explain if they wish. Another consistent theme heard from stakeholders and others was the importance of finding the right balance between the needs of employees and the needs of employers. Employer associations argued that having the same requirements for responding to all requests for flex work could create undue burden for employers (e.g. After January 1, 2018, compressed work week arrangements can no longer be entered into. However, we lack a formal policy, and I require approval from a sometimes-unreliable Board of Directors to request and receive my own flex time arrangements when needed.”. “Flex work is not about working less, it’s about working better.”, “I am the ED of a small, non-profit arts organization and aim to accommodate staff requests for flex time by accounting for lieu time accumulated by evening and weekend duties. There was general agreement among stakeholders and survey respondents about the need to formalize the process for exercising the right to request and what the basic features of the process should be (e.g. This figure includes all of those who responded to at least one question in the survey. of Work Policy. Employer organizations, on the other hand, maintained that employees should be entitled to make a request only after one year of continuous service with the same employer and that there should be limits on the number of requests that can be made per calendar year, to help ensure that potentially costly arrangements are not required for employees with minimal attachment to the workplace. A deputy head may agree to an FAA if: This section outlines what was heard during the consultations about the processes for employees to make requests for flex work and for employers to respond, as well as when a request can be refused. For employers, flex work helps foster productivity as well as inclusive and supportive work environments that attract and retain needed talent. Stakeholders and survey respondents stressed the important role that workplace policies and practices play in achieving cultural change. Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers, Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Federally Regulated Employers – Transportation and Communications, Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, Association des proches aidants de la Capitale-Nationale, Canadian Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Confédération des organismes familiaux du Québec, Arla Day, CN Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, St. Mary’s University. Flexible work arrangements : a discussion paper. : Em8-32/2016E-PDF "The Government of Canada recognizes that, in order to reform federal policy and deliver real results to Canadians, meaningful engagement must be an integral part of the policy developmental process. This report provides an overview of what Canadians told us during these consultations about the benefits and challenges associated with the right to request flexible work arrangements and how it should be implemented. Who Will This Affect? As many noted, despite areas of shared interests, flexibility is motivated by different considerations, raises different issues and concerns and has different impacts for employees and employers. inability to reorganize work among existing staff; detrimental effects on the ability to meet customer demand; insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work; and. By carefully considering what fits your corporate culture, operational needs and employee desires, flexibility can be a boon for … Canadian Human Rights Act). REMOTE WORK If you want your employees to save commuting time and costs, offer them remote work. Rotation of Workers refers to one where employees are rotated or alternately provided work within the week. Flexible work as an employment standards entitlement: Furthermore, federally regulated employers should know that their employees enjoy a right to request flexible work arrangements. This was considered to be an important way to foster consistency across Canada with regards to providing the right to request flexible work arrangements. The campaign coincides with the publication of a new CIPD report, Megatrends: Flexible Working, which shows that the number of employees using formal flexible working arrangements – such as part-time working, term-time working, compressed hours and job-sharing – has flat-lined since 2010. To help Canadians balance their professional and personal responsibilities, the Government of Canada launched broad public and stakeholder consultations with employers, employer organizations, unions and labour organizations as the first step in bringing the right to request flexible work arrangements to Canada. Once you submit your written request, your employer has 30 days to respond and provide 1 of 4 possible responses in writing: Federally regulated employers are required to consider employee’s requests for flexible work arrangements without consequence to the employee. By carefully considering what fits your corporate culture, operational needs and employee desires, flexibility can be a boon for … The Federal Government has pledged to amend the Canada Labour Code to allow federally regulated workers to formally request flexible work arrangements from their employers, noting that a statutory right to request flexible work arrangements would align with existing obligations under human rights law (e.g. Between May 16 and June 30, 2016, Canadians were invited to complete an online survey to express their views on flexible work arrangements. if a request would have minimal impacts on operations) and reduce the benefits for employees (e.g. dismissal, reduced career opportunities, bullying or harassment). The consultations confirmed that there is little data currently available to establish a solid baseline on flex work and that addressing this gap will be a key challenge in monitoring implementation and, where necessary, making adjustments. 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