Key Points
- A Senate committee has proposed several reforms aimed at giving Australians a better work-life balance.
- A federal government-backed trial of a four-day work week is among the proposals.
- Other recommendations include increasing paid parental leave to 52 weeks, and a right to predictable, stable rosters.
The Albanese government is being urged to push a national trial of the four-day work week to see how it improves the lives of those juggling work and caring responsibilities.
A federal parliamentary committee has recommended a federal government-backed trial of based on the "100:80:100" model, where workers keep their entire salary and maintain full productivity despite working 80 per cent of the week.
The proposed pilot would be spread across industries and conducted in partnership with an Australian university.
at companies in Australia and overseas, with participants reporting improved productivity, work-life balance, health and wellbeing, and the normalisation of care as part of work.
Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Work and Care, Barbara Pocock, said Australia was an international outlier in terms of supporting workers with caring responsibilities.
"We have slipped too far behind," the Greens senator said.
"And we are paying a price in labour supply, stressed workers and gender inequality.”
She said greater flexibility for workers could actually improve productivity.
How have some employers done with a trial?
Non-profit organisation Momentum Mental Health has been experimenting with the 100:80:100 model with positive results, with plans to extend the policy beyond the six-month trial period.
The organisation's chief executive, Deborah Bailey, said the shortened work week had both improved productivity and the wellbeing of its staff.
She said workers with caring responsibilities were able to attend appointments and spend time with children or elderly parents without squeezing it in before work or over their lunch break.
"We have found that we have given people the capacity to take on those caring roles and also their productivity has increased," Ms Bailey said.
She said the boost in productivity was possible by packing more into the standard work day, such as fewer and shorter meetings.
What other workplace changes were recommended?
The pilot is one of several measures aimed at helping people strike a better balance between work and care responsibilities.
The Senate committee also suggested a Fair Work Commission review of the 38-hour working week, including if stronger penalties for long hours are needed, and installing a "right to disconnect" outside of work hours.
Under its proposal, employers would be restricted from contacting employees outside work hours unless it's an emergency.
Other proposals in the comprehensive report include finding a pathway to bump up to 52 weeks.
Primary carers are currently entitled to 18 weeks, but the government last year committed to .
The committee also called for higher pay for child care, disability, and aged care workers, and a right to predictable, stable rosters.
"Work-life balance is a remote dream for too many," Senator Pocock said.
"Especially those living the nightmare of last-minute shift changes which make finding care for loved ones or kids impossible."
Will the recommendations be adopted?
While the Labor senators on the committee offered "in principle" support to the recommendations, they noted the proposed changes don't reflect current government policy.
Both major parties also warned of the cost implications of adopting all of the committee's recommendations.
"On handing this report to the parliament and the Australian government for further consideration we acknowledge the fiscal constraints of the moment," Labor senators Deborah O'Neill, Jana Stewart, and Linda White wrote.
"It is now the role of government to consider the report and its recommendations within the context of broader budgetary and legislative constraints."
