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Old. Fat, Lazy or Pregnant? 

Currently, there are four key changing demographics which influence the make up of the workforce. The average age of someone working has increased from 35 to 39 since 1984. More employees are staying on to work well beyond the traditional retirement age. Obesity is an epidemic worldwide and Australia is no exception with 26% of the adult population obese, so there’s a fair chance you’ll have an employee suffering from being over-weight. 28% of the workforce choose to work part time – so does this make them lazy? Last year alone over 175 000 women were pregnant in the workforce.

So why is the workforce changing?

People’s expectations are different. In Victoria, particularly in Melbourne, many families aspire to own their own home and to send their children to private school. Today, this requires a dual income, and so partners are looking for more flexibility in their work arrangements. As they live longer, so people are looking to work for longer, but usually in a part time role. More women are receiving a tertiary education and have an expectation of a fully developed career role. All these factors lead to full employment.

Legislation is changing constantly to keep pace with these different demands. Some companies are keen to offer a flexible environment for their employees and embrace these new laws enthusiastically.

So what are some of these changes?

The government has already introduced TRAPs (Transition to Retirement Allocated Pensions) which allow employees to access a portion of their superannuation whilst working and still contributing to their pension.

The government is also concerned with rising obesity levels both in children and in adults. Grants have been introduced to encourage companies to offer health and well-being policies so employees have more opportunities to exercise and to keep fit.

There are over 70 % of women in the workforce of child bearing age and so there are many voices requesting paid parental leave. As a consequence, the government has set up a productivity review to look into existing legislation and how it might be improved.

Working part time is no longer regarded as a lazy or a ‘soft option.’ Recent changes to the discrimination laws put the onus on the company to be flexible with an employee requesting part time work.

So what are you doing about it?

If you want to position your company so others sit up and take notice, there are several things you can do. Make sure your policies dovetail with government legislation; don’t just comply with the law, but go one step further and design polices which embrace these changes. In this way you will engage your workforce more effectively and improve productivity.

Work out how to address managers’ attitudes which may be stuck in a time warp and who really see people as old, fat, lazy,and ‘deliberately’ pregnant. Instead, remind them of the wisdom and experience a mature person can bring to the job. Point out that part time work equals more flexibility on both sides. And a pregnant female should not be treated as an inconvenience but celebrated as an opportunity for your employee to combine motherhood with a career. By helping over-weight people to exercise more you are looking after their well being and promoting a healthy work-life balance.

Keep ahead of the game. If you’re not sure where to start, or need to review your current policies, give us a call at Crossroads. We’re working to keep both you and your company flexible!

Contact us today by email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 9862 5900