Parental leave

On Friday September 10 Blake Dawson Waldron will hold a half-day workshop titled Case Studies in Managing Parental Leave Issues at the Forrest Centre Perth.

The workshop will explore the challenges involved in balancing employees’ requests

for flexible work arrangements.

It is aimed at human resources professionals, managers and supervisors.

The workshop will refer to recent cases that have highlighted issues related to this area and the current regulation through anti-discrimination legislation.

The learning outcomes on the agenda include understanding sources of legal entitlement to parental leave, who is and who isn’t entitled to parental leave, what leave entitlements apply, obligations to replacement workers, obligations to employees returning to work from parental leave and obligations in relation to part-time work and job-sharing.

Attendees will also be able to gain skills in effectively reviewing current practices, identifying areas of risk for their organisation, and develop guidelines and action plans for their organisation.

These topics will be covered in five separate sections, the first being an introduction and overview.

The second section will refer to case studies and will explore specific legal and practical issues through interactive discussion.

In this section the topics who is entitled to leave, and are there risks in refusing parental leave when no statutory entitlement exists, will be explored.

This section will also cover problems that can arise in relation to replacement workers, employer obligations in relation to requests for part-time work and employer obligations in relation to job share on return from parental leave.

The following section will be a discussion on legal risks and requirements, with particular reference to relevant legislation, direct and indirect discrimination, best practice guidelines and consideration of possible legal claims by employees.

The fourth section will develop guidelines for answering questions and managing parental leave issues through an interactive exercise.

Lastly the workshop will address how to go forward by reviewing the skills learnt and how to transfer these into the workplace.

Registrations for the workshop can be made with Blake Dawson Waldron for $550.

For further information phone Fiona Pryor on 1800 236 000 or email ir@bdw.com.