Chat about flexible work

The planner is designed to give you flexibility and guidance in how you might plan your request, or respond to requests. It is not intended as legal advice.

By helping people to proactively start the conversation about flexible work, the planner aims to support an inclusive workplace culture and reduce the possibility of discrimination occurring.

The planner has been tested in a pilot program across diverse workplaces as part of an integrated program to address the drivers of inequality at work.

The Flexible work request planner is a confidential way for you to learn more about the rights of workers to flexible work, and the obligations for organisations when considering requests. It sets out concrete steps that can help set up the right work arrangements.

The planner generates talking points to help workers and managers have a conversation about flexible work. These talking points are tailored simply according to the choices you select.

At the end of each chat, the planner provides some helpful links and downloadable guides for you to keep handy, as part of your preparation to talk about flexible work requests.

You can use the planner on mobile or desktop. If you use a personal device and access the planner through a secure internet connection not provided by your employer, then your organisation won’t know that you have visited the planner on our website. The planner does not collect or store email addresses or any personal data.

Please be aware that if you exit before finishing your chat with the planner, the next time you visit the planner may ask if you want to finish the chat that you already started, or if you want to start again. To avoid the bot asking you this question, we recommend that you finish each chat you begin, if possible. Once you finish a chat, the bot will generally ask if you would like to ‘Start again’, and then you can choose to finish the conversation.

If you are using a screenreader, you may experience technical issues with navigating through the Flexible work request planner. As an alternative, screenreader users may prefer to access information about flexible work on our website, which has been maximised for the screenreader experience.

As the planner brings an interactive experience, screenreader users are advised that:

• the planner does not announce each new line of text in your screenreader
• a screenreader will regularly let you know when to ‘CHOOSE AN OPTION’ in the planner. When a screenreader reads out this option, please be aware that it is a very broad instruction. It may be referring to a number of things, such as choosing which pathway you’d like to take next, or simply to click on an interactive button so that the planner can continue
• the planner presents a number of options that you can choose from as you progress. While all of these options are displayed as blue buttons, a screenreader may not always recognise that these options are for users to choose as a response.

Those using assistive technology may also experience issues with keyboard navigation when operating content in the planner. A screenreader may first recognise a ‘back’ button before reading the options presented for the user to select.

Your confidential use of the Flexible work request planner is important. The planner does not ask you to sign in or provide your email address. You will be having a chat with a bot and are the only human involved.

We don’t share any information on how you use the planner or any details of the chats.