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Thinking about flexible work
If you grew up in New Zealand in the 1980s, you will undoubtedly remember Colonel Sanders.
He was the cherry face of Kentucky Fried Chicken (now, of course, "KFC") - a fellow with a white goatee beard, and shoe-string tie.
Colonel Sanders was the founder of his fried chicken company. More importantly, he was the inventor of its secret combination of herbs and spices.
What many people don't know, however, is that success did not come quickly for the Colonel. His fried chicken recipe was rejected, over and over again, by any number of people whom he attempted to convince to become his business partner.
There were endless criticisms - that it was too salty, or not salty enough - that it was too spicy, or that he should spice things up. Perhaps understandably, it took the good Colonel a decent amount of moral resolve - and determination - to get his product to the point that it became marketable and, eventually, a preferred dish for consumers everywhere.
Now, it seems, workplace legislation may be a little bit similar.
The proposal was simple: if you recently become a parent, you would be entitled to make a request of your employer to vary the hours that you would work. The employer would have an obligation to consider your proposal, and may only refuse it on limited grounds (including an inability to recruit additional staff to cover for the arrangement, or detrimental effects on quality or performance).
The Bill was considered by the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee. It received 102 submissions - including 34 which were heard orally.
Support for the Bill was divided. On the one hand, a large number of submitters supported the Bill on the basis that it was family-friendly - and broadly in line with the Government's philosophies concerning work-life balance. On the other hand, a large number of submitters suggested that, whilst a good idea, the practical reality was that the Bill would provide a number of difficult hurdles for business - to the point that it might be unfair, or impossible for some businesses to implement.
This conflict is not, in itself, something which is foreign to a Select Committee environment. But this piece of proposed legislation has been treated differently to most.
A couple of weeks ago, the Chairperson of the Select Committee, the Honourable Mark Gosche, issued a statement confirming that the Select Committee had decided to put the Bill aside for one year so that officials could undertake further work to collect and collate reliable information on New Zealand workplace practices regarding flexible working hours. In making this statement, Mr Gosche said that several matters were obvious to the Select Committee, including:
- the need for flexible working hours;
- the fact that the mechanism for delivering flexible hours was not agreed - and was a complex matter; and
- that some employers had already introduced flexible working practices, but that many employees said that they were not sufficiently available.
So, in summary, while it seems to be accepted that, in concept, flexible work arrangements are a good idea, there are any number of difficulties involved in implementing a law which will work effectively and fairly.
So it's back to the drawing board - at least for now.
The Select Committee has not offered any reasons for its action (beyond those outlined above). One might, however, speculate that this piece of legislation has the potential to be something of a political hot potato.
On one hand, politicians like to be seen as supportive of family-friendly legislation. And, on any view, flexible work arrangements are a good idea.
On the other hand, however, politicians are also keen to avoid a perception that they are "anti business". In this light, the way in which flexible work arrangements might be mandated could cause problems - particularly for small and medium-sized operations (which represent over 70% of all New Zealand workplaces).
Against that background, referring these difficult issues - and the very difficult question of balance between different interests - to a third party is a safe political route. It is also something which may allow an opportunity for policy makers and parliamentary drafters alike to ponder whether, and how, legislation such as this can be introduced to everyone's satisfaction.
For now, therefore, if you are a parent of a young child, you will have to rely upon your employer's indulgence in order to effect a flexible workplace arrangement. Even so, the potential exists that, after the next year or so, you may have a law in this country allowing you significantly more rights in this area.
And you can still sample the outcome of the good Colonel's lengthy quest to find just the right combination of herbs and spices...
