Flexible work and psychosocial safety

Project status: Completed

How can we create safeguards while our team works from home?

With this Best Practice Guide for Flexible and WFH Arrangements.

The global pandemic saw a major shift in the way businesses operate, with many workplaces now offering flexible working arrangements to their teams.

Flexible work has a lot of benefits, like the potential to improve employee work-life balance. But it can also create negative experiences for people. In instances where team members choose to work from home (wfh), they may find that they start to feel isolated from their co-workers, or personal and professional pressures might become more entangled.

The shift towards new ways of working highlights the need for employers to ensure that they are meeting their obligation to provide a safe working environment for flexible workers.

Designing controlled approaches to flexible work

How can employers identify psychosocial risks that employees may face when working from locations different to their usual place of work? What strategies can be used to prevent psychosocial harm amongst these employees?

To answer these questions, we partnered with some of the best researchers in the field from the Edith Cowan University, The University of New South Wales, Southern Cross University, Queensland University of Technology, Sydney Water and Live Better to examine the mental health and behavioural risks associated with flexible work arrangements, with a focus on employees within New South Wales.

The result? The ‘Best practice guide for flexible and work from home arrangements’.

Developed in consultation with key stakeholders, this comprehensive guide provides practical advice to enhance flexible worker wellbeing by improving the organisation’s capability to promote psychological safety. Each element of a psychologically safe and productive work environment for flexible workers is explained with descriptors and case studies. It also provides links to relevant resources to support best practice.

Download the guide

Further reading

  • Phase 1 report
  • Phase 2 report
  • Phase 3 report
  • Research summary report
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