Posts: flexible working request

Our Managing Director and Principal, Athena Koelmeyer, will explore one of the most challenging frontiers employers are facing today, flexible work arrangements.

Section 65A(5) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), outlines the non-exhaustive list of reasonable business grounds that employers may consider when refusing a flexible working arrangement request, most commonly considering the cost, practicality and capacity of the employer to accommodate the request.

Our Managing Director and Principal, Athena Koelmeyer, recently spoke to SmartCompany about the key takeaways from the decision Chandler v Westpac Banking Corporation [2025] FWC 3115

An employee will only be eligible to request flexible working arrangements if their request for changed arrangements is “because of” one of the prescribed circumstances set out under section 65(1A) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

For an employee to bring a general protections claim involving dismissal, they must be able to demonstrate that they were “dismissed” from their employment within the meaning of section 386 of the Fair Work Act 2009.

Under the National Employment Standards an employee in certain circumstances has the right to request flexible working arrangements . Since June 2023, employees can lodge an application to the Fair Work Commission to resolve disputes relating to FWA requests where an employer has denied the request or failed to respond within 21 days, and attempts to resolve the dispute at the workplace level were unsuccessful.

An employer may only refuse an employee’s request for a flexible working arrangement if it has “reasonable business grounds” to do so. The test for what constitutes reasonable business grounds is objective and will depend on the individual circumstances.

An employee will only be eligible to request a flexible working arrangement if they are able to demonstrate that there is a sufficient nexus between one of the prescribed circumstances under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the request itself.