A new report Serving up flexibility: creating flexible workplaces in the restaurant and catering industry looks at flexible work arrangements and provides eleven case studies of workplaces showing the positive experiences of both employers and employees.

Flexible work arrangements include rostering to fit an employee's child care requirements, leave to attend emergency situations, job sharing positions to assist people returning from parental leave and a number of other innovations.

The case studies demonstrate how flexible work arrangements can be individually tailored to meet the needs of the business and its employees. Arrangements vary to fit employees’ personal commitments and include part-time options, job sharing positions and a number of other innovations.

The publication comes at a time of a growing awareness of skill shortages and focuses on the industry’s need to implement innovative working arrangements to attract employees from diverse backgrounds, including parents, carers, mature age workers and people with disabilities. It showcases ten different employers, small and large in size, in metropolitan and regional areas.

The report was launched by Kevin Andrews MP, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, who outlined the challenges ahead for the restaurant and catering industry during a period of an ageing population and consequent labour shortages.

“In the current tight labour market, all businesses will need to consider employing people who have traditionally been under represented in the workforce in the past. This is particularly a challenge for the restaurant and catering business which has usually relied upon a ready pool of young workers to meet the demands of the business,” Minister Andrews said.

“Many restaurant and catering business owners know that employees can simply walk out the door if they are not happy with their working environment. For the industry to thrive, it needs to turn to some innovative arrangements so that both employees and employers can meet their needs,” Minister Andrews said.

Serving up flexibility will be widely distributed throughout the industry over the coming months to assist employers and employees to keep doing what they do best – providing great food and great customer service in a challenging and rewarding industry.

To download a copy of the Serving up flexibility publication please click here. 
 
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