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RedBalloon supports Green push for flexible work hours

Announcement posted by RedBalloon 10 Feb 2012

Renowned top employer supports the call for flexible work hours as standard

Friday February 10, 2012: Award winning employer and employee engagement specialists RedBalloon have supported this morning’s call by the Greens to introduce legislation that would give workers the right to more flexible hours.

Under the Greens’ proposal, parents and carers will be able to work more flexible child-friendly hours, and make it easier for workers and employers to negotiate hours outside of the traditional nine to five regime. Employers could refuse a request only on reasonable business grounds.

RedBalloon has been credited numerous times as a top employer, achieving an Aon Hewitt engagement score of over 90 per cent three years in a row, and was named one of six Hewitt Best Employers in 2009. RedBalloon has also made the top 50 in the BRW Best Places to Work survey three years running.


According to RedBalloon Employee Experience Manager Megan Bromley, winner of the 2011 Australian Human Resources Institute HR Practitioner of the Year Award, the company’s approach to flexible work hours includes
altered start and finish times or even the option to work from home if the role allows.

“There are many things employers can do to help implement flexible work conditions while supporting employees to achieve and maintain great productivity,” Mrs Bromley said.


“We have one employee here who works part time hours that allow her to drop off the kids at school and pick them up every afternoon, and we have others who work from home one day a week on specific projects that do not require them to be physically in the office. What’s the point in having them sit in traffic for three hours a day when they can achieve just as much, if not more, working from a safe home office environment?”


“At RedBalloon we want to offer our people the flexibility and the tools to do their jobs in the manner that best suits them, and we understand that people’s outside lives don’t finish at the front door of the office every morning.


“But it’s also a matter of trust and accountability – we trust our people that they will get the job done and they are accountable to the business and their colleagues at the end of the day.


“Organisations need to shift the way they think about the standard work day, and how they expect employees to work their hours and meet their
goals – and this shouldn’t be limited to parents and carers alone, but extended to benefit all employees where possible.

“Incorporating flexible work options and mindsets can go a long way to creating a happy and healthy employee experience. And that can only be a positive thing for business.”

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For more information or images, please contact: Lauren Ashton, Communications Specialist - 02 8755 0034 / 0404 136 765 /lauren@redballoon.com.au

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