Employment Relations Act 2000, Part 6AA

All employees have the right to ask their employer for permanent or long-term changes to their working arrangements. This can be about when they do their work (which days or hours) or where they do their work (for example, working from home) or both.

Your employer has to follow a set process when they respond to your request, including replying in writing within a set time. If they don’t follow this process, you can get help from a government labour inspector and if necessary, go to the ERA.

The law says your employer can refuse your request only if they can’t “accommodate” the changes you’re asking for. In other words, they can’t make the changes fit with the business’s operations. However, this is a subjective test. If your employer says it’s not going to work due to their business operations, you can’t challenge or review this decision.

Employment Relations Act 2000, ss 69AAA-69AAC

You have to put your request in writing. You’ll need to explain:

• whether the change you want would be permanent or temporary and if it would only be temporary, how long it would be for, and
• what changes, if any, you think your employer may need to make in their business if they agree to your request.

Employment Relations Act 2000, ss 69AAE-69AAG

Your employer has to respond to your request for different work arrangements as soon as possible. This can’t be more than one month after receiving it.

Your employer has to give you their decision in writing. If they refuse your request, they have to give you the reasons for this.

Your employer can only refuse your request on one of the set grounds specified in the Employment Relations Act. The grounds include:

• they wouldn’t be able to reorganise your work among the other staff, or
• they wouldn’t be able to recruit additional staff to do the work, or
• the arrangement would have a negative effect on work quality or work performance, or
• the arrangement would have a negative effect on the organisation’s ability to meet customer demand, or
• there wouldn’t be work available for you to do during the times you propose to work, or
• planned structural changes in the organisation, or
• the arrangements would cost more.

They can also refuse the request if the arrangement would be inconsistent with your collective employment agreement.

Employment Relations Act 2000, ss 69AAG-69AAK

You can only challenge your employer’s response to your request if they haven’t followed the proper process, including if they don’t respond to you within the required time (one month) or if they don’t give you one of the set reasons.

If your employer hasn’t followed the proper process – for example, if they simply ignore your request, you can ask a labour inspector for help. The inspector can pass on your dispute to the free mediation service. If mediation doesn’t resolve it, you can apply to the ERA. If the ERA agrees that your employer has breached the requirements, it can order them to pay you a penalty of up to $2,000.

Employment Relations Act 2000, Part 6AB

If you or your child have experienced family violence, you have a right to ask for short-term flexibility in your work arrangements. This can be for up to two months. This extended flexibility is on top of your existing rights to ask for flexible working (see: “Flexible work arrangements for all employees” above).

You can ask for changes to:

• when you work – your hours or days of work, and
• where you work – your place of work (for example, if you want to work at home or some other place that’s different from where your employer is based), and
• what you do – the particular tasks you do at work, and
• other aspects of your work – like the contact details you give your employer (for example, to keep yourself safe, you may need to keep your current home address secret).

Note: If you’re treated unfairly by your employer because you’ve experienced family violence, you may be able to lodge a personal grievance for “unjustified disadvantage” (see: “Taking action through personal grievance”).

You can request flexible working regardless of when the violence took place. It doesn’t matter if it is current or if it happened at some point in the past.

You need to put your request in writing. You’ll need to say:

• how long you want the arrangements to last for – it can be up to two months, and
• how you think this will help you deal with the effects of the violence, and
• what changes you think your employer might need to make in their business if they agree to your request.

You can use this request form from the Employment New Zealand website as a template (or, go to www.employment.govt.nz and search “appendix E” to find the template).

Your boss can ask for proof before they approve your flexible working. This is the same level of proof as you would give for family violence leave. The law doesn’t say what kind of proof you need to give, but Employment NZ has suggested that you could use:

• a letter from a family violence support service, or
• a report from a doctor or nurse, or
• a police or court document, like a Protection Order.

For more examples, view the Employment NZ guidance here (or go to www.employment.govt.nz and search “family violence leave”).

If you’ve asked for flexible work arrangements following family violence, your employer must respond to your request within 10 working days after they receive it.

Your employer has to give you their decision in writing. If they refuse your request, they have to give you the reasons for this.

Your employer can only refuse your request if you did not give them the proof they asked for or on one of the set grounds specified in the Employment Relations Act. These grounds include:

• they wouldn’t be able to reorganise your work among the other staff, or
• they wouldn’t be able to recruit additional staff to do the work, or
• the arrangement would have a negative effect on work quality or work performance, or
• the arrangement would have a negative effect on the organisation’s ability to meet customer demand, or
• there wouldn’t be work available for you to do during the times you propose to work, or
• planned structural changes in the organisation, or
• the arrangements would cost more.

Unlike other flexible working requests, your employer can’t refuse your family violence flexible working request just because the arrangements are inconsistent with your collective agreement.

Employment Relations Act 2000, ss 69AAG-69AAK

Unlike other flexible working requests, you can go to the labour inspector or the ERA if you think your employer has refused your request unreasonably. For example, if they say the changes would harm the quality of your work and you disagree with that.

You can also challenge the employer’s response if they haven’t followed the right process in responding to your request– for example, if they just ignore your request without responding at all or if they refuse your request without saying why (see: “Resolving employment problems”).