5 legal considerations to keep in mind before making your workplace child-friendly

Any working parent knows that the best laid childcare plans can sometimes fall apart, so a workplace open to visits from children can be a godsend. But before you open up your door to kids, consider these legal dos and don’ts.

Slowly but surely, Australian workplaces are becoming more supportive of working parents.

Among the many industrial relations changes announced as part of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill, new legislation will be introduced later this year giving any parent or guardian caring for infants or school-aged children the right to fight back against employers who deny their requests for flexible working arrangements. 

Moreover, parental leave policies are on the road to becoming more equitable. Last week, the Senate passed the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Improvements for Families and Gender Equality) Bill 2022, which aims to support women’s workforce participation and help more dads and partners take time off work to be with their children.

For parents whose children are born or adopted from 1 July 2023, the requirement that 18 of the 20-week paid parental leave entitlement be taken by the ‘primary carer’ will be removed. The new legislation will allow single parents to use the full 20-week entitlement of paid leave, up from 18 weeks currently.

The government has also announced plans to bring forward additional legislation to extend the paid parental leave entitlement from 20 weeks to 26 weeks by 2026.

On top of these significant advancements, recent changes have also reinforced the right for parents to breastfeed at work. As of December last year, breastfeeding became a protected attribute under the Fair Work Act, meaning employees now have more recourse if they feel they’ve been discriminated against or treated differently for breastfeeding at work.

These new and impending policies are seeking to instil a more progressive approach to supporting employees who are parents. In order to stay on top of the new legislation, now is a great time to reassess your organisation’s policies around this, including deciding whether to make your workplace family-friendly.

Of course, there are some workplaces that are unsuitable for children and infants. However, if you’ve never considered allowing children in your workplace and are not sure if doing so would be appropriate, use the handy infographic below to decide if your workplace is ready to be child-friendly. 

Need help crafting policies that set clear behavioural expectations? AHRI’s short course will help you understand how to structure, write and implement effective policies and procedures.

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