Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I am assured people are listening. I move Greens amendment (5) on sheet 5744:

(5)    Clause 76, page 89 (after line 9), after subclause (5), insert:

     (5A)    If the employer refuses the request, the employee may apply to FWA to review the employer’s decision on the following grounds:

             (a)    because there has been a contravention of a requirement of this section; or

             (b)    because there has been a misunderstanding or misapplication of a fact relating to the application.

      (5B)    The application must be made within 7 days after the employer gives the employee a written response under subsection (3), unless FWA is satisfied there are circumstances which justify a late application.

      (5C)    FWA may make:

             (a)    an order for reconsideration of the request; and

             (b)    an award of compensation to be paid by the employer to the employee.

     (5D)    The amount of compensation must be an amount, not exceeding 26 weeks’ pay for the employee, as FWA considers fair in all the circumstances.

This amendment relates to the right to request flexible working arrangements and deals with the right to request an extension of unpaid parental leave. Similar issues arise here, where the bill provides what it calls a right but with no means of actually enforcing that right. Our amendment replicates the review procedure discussed with respect to the right to request flexible working arrangements—we had that debate not long ago—and ensures employees are able to apply to Fair Work Australia to review the employer’s decision on procedural grounds.

These are similar sorts of issues to those we were dealing with when we were discussing the previous set of amendments on the right to request flexible working arrangements. Here we have a right in the legislation, but you cannot enforce it in any way, so an employer can just say no and that is the end of the matter. We think, to be fair, you should be able to at least have a review of that decision. We had that discussion around the right to request flexible working arrangements for parents, and of course if you are on unpaid parental leave you are still a parent, but this is a slightly different issue of seeking to extend your unpaid parental leave.

Question negatived.