Flexible working principles for public servants and their bosses that feed into the current round of enterprise bargaining have been slapped on the table by the Australian Public Service Commission, as agency chiefs continue to aim for a deal before the current pay deal expires in August.
In an expansion to the existing, but yet to be codified, position of flexibility-as-default, the APSC is pushing for all APS roles to be flexible conditional on “different types of flexibility being suitable for different roles”.
The shift to flexible working as default is significant because it is likely to be a core demand of the Community and Public Sector Union following the shift en masse to ‘flex’ under COVID that many public servants do not want to see rolled back in a reversion to cubicle farms.
“Workplace flexibility is an important issue in the current APS service-wide bargaining process. The principles will be a consideration in the negotiation of a common flexibility term for inclusion in all APS enterprise agreements,” the Secretaries Board said.
Mutual benefit demand, little detail
However, the kicker in the APSC’s ‘flexwork’ principles is a core premise that “flexibility needs to be mutually beneficial” — which could potentially open the door to some productivity arm-twisting if public servants are spared the time and expense of commuting to the office and potentially widen the span of the working day.
While many agencies in frontline services — eg military, security and operational functions like aviation — already have established shift and rostering systems that take into account unforeseen or major events, other departments have less established structures based on the classic 9-5 workday.
It’s those agencies that are most likely to put an ask via flexibility on employees because the government and the Reserve Bank of Australia have already made clear productivity increases are expected to offset any substantial pay increases in order to keep a lid on inflation.
Expanded horizons
Secretaries are also calling for flexible work to be used as a lever to widen the APS talent pool, a lever that could be used to generate greater competition for APS positions that have been difficult to fill or staffed by more expensive contractors or labour hire.
“We encourage staff to be open-minded and purposeful in finding creative flexible working solutions that meet organisation and team needs,” the APSC said in its position paper.
“Alongside flexible work, we also need to consider improving many other aspects of how we work, including recruiting from diverse national talent pools, mobility, learning and development, performance management, accommodation, technology and more. We support our people to be agile, and innovative and to create solutions to overcome barriers.”
Performance anxiety
The key phrase in that statement is performance management, a bugbear of many senior managers who often resort to shifting underperforming staff sideways or even up a rung into other agencies to manage duds or difficult staff.
Just what that entails is likely to be thrashed in bargaining, but a known sticking point in the past has been that public servants asked to deliver dud policies, often thought up by externally influenced ministers and their staff who ignore advice, should not be punished when programs and projects go awry.
Recent examples include Inland Rail and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, both of which are beset by delays and blowouts.
Five-point plan
The Secretaries Board boils APS flexible work down to five key principles which are:
- Flexibility applies to all roles, with different types of flexibility being suitable for different roles;
- Flexibility needs to be mutually beneficial;
- Organisational and team needs frame conversations about individual flexibility arrangements;
- Flexible work arrangements value meaningful and regular face-to-face contact; and
- Flexibility is embedded, modelled and refined.
However, the detail on the mutual benefit is Spartan, with the full document providing just two lines.
“To ensure flexibility works for everyone, arrangements must suit agencies and teams, as well as individuals,” the Secretaries Board explainer says.
“This applies to all arrangements from when they are established. Arrangements should be reviewed regularly to ensure they remain mutually beneficial for all.”
Boss rights retained
On organisational and team needs, public service bosses still want to be able to say how, where and when people work.
“It is important that agencies articulate their expectations about how flexibility can align with the organisation’s needs. This may be through decisions about the types of flexibility suitable for different roles, including which roles can and cannot be done from home,” the Secretaries Board document states.
“Where roles are able to be performed from home, agencies may also provide benchmarks around the extent of face-to-face contact, such as the number of days to be spent in the office, or on handling requests to work from a different location. These benchmarks may be necessary to ensure consistency and equity across similar roles.”
But we rented an office …
Being told to come in is also a theme.
“Team leaders may set further benchmarks, to accommodate flexibility across a team, such as use of agreed ‘anchor days’ where all team members attend the office in person,” the Secretaries Board document states.
Notably, the casting of a national APS talent net is covered under the “value meaningful and regular face-to-face contact”.
“Agencies are encouraged to attract talent nationally. Requests to work from a different location to a person’s core team raise a number of additional considerations, including costs and practical issues to ensure meaningful connection with teams, which may be covered in agency policies,” the Secretaries Board document states.
It also raises a question as to how committed some APS chiefs are to looking outside of Canberra for talent, and whether office leases will need to be downsized after bargaining concludes.
With unemployment rates staying at historical lows, and rents and interest rates on the rise, it might yet be the Secretaries Board that needs to show a little pragmatic flexibility given the current government’s agenda of not outsourcing work to consultants and the coalition of the billing.
CPSU reacts
National secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union Melissa Donnelly said flexible work, including working from home, formed a vital part of service-wide negotiations.
“Since the pandemic, flexible work arrangements and working from home have become a normal part of many people’s working lives and it is now time for the APS to set the standard for working from home rights and have them locked into enterprise agreements.
“The current approach is fragmented and inconsistent, which is a source of frustration for employees and members alike.”
Donnelly told The Mandarin that employees wanted consistency “across roles and across the service” and not have caps unnecessarily restrict what flexibility could look like for them.
“Flexibility promotes inclusivity and will pave the way for the APS to become an employer of choice for women, parents, people with a disability, people with caring responsibilities and people in rural and regional areas. The APS has everything to gain and nothing to lose when it comes to improving its approach to flexible work,” Donnelly said.
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