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New working week could help us get a life

Don't like starting work at 8am? Think work should recognise walking the dog is as important as going to school plays?

The working day could be redrawn so all vital business happens between 10am and 3pm to reflect workers' demanding lifestyles, according to Access Economics in a paper released today. And child care could be tax-deductible and workers could draw on their superannuation to fund parental leave.

All this would cost the Federal Government a relatively small amount, the paper suggests, and bring about "a higher available talent pool, improved staff retention, productivity and higher quality of work".

Having core business hours between 10am and 3pm would allow people to work from 7am- 3pm or 10am-7pm, in accordance with their family needs, such as dropping children off at school and picking them up. Face-to-face meetings could take place within the core hours while more flexible engagements, such as tele-conferences, could be scheduled outside.

The definition of the family must also change to include not just the nuclear variety but a "21-year-old with a dog", said the national president of the Australian Computer Society, Edward Mandla, whose group commissioned the report.

The IT industry is already feeling the pinch, with too few workers joining its ranks, and the problem is such that the Government is considering significantly raising the limit on skilled migrants to fill the gaps.

The Information Technology Minister, Helen Coonan, is looking at the paper as part of her push to bring more women into the IT industry.

"It has to be about choice," Mr Mandla said. "If you want to work 18 hours a day that's fine but it's not always appropriate at other times in your life."

He said tax deductibility for child care was a "bigger issue than anyone thinks", with parents paying up to thousands of dollars in fees to stay at work. Access Economics estimated this would cost the Government $771 million a year.

The second biggest issue for workers was having more time for exercise, with the paper suggesting a removal of the fringe benefits tax on gym and other recreational memberships funded by employers or workers through salary sacrifice. This would cost the Government $154 million.

The paper also urges favourable tax arrangements to encourage workers to sacrifice part of their salary to fund parental leave.

from smh