Flexible working practices

The University offers a wide range of support options available for you at UTS to help you balance your paid work with your role as a parent.

Parental leave

UTS provides centrally funded paid parental leave so that all areas of the University have the resources available to fund the replacement of staff on parental leave. A range of parental leave options are available at UTS including leave for:

• Primary carers
• Adoptive parents
• Partners (including same-sex partners)
• Foster parents

We also offer return to work support to enable a smooth transition back after your leave.

Paid parental leave

Paid parental leave is available for primary carers of all genders who are continuing staff members and have completed 40 weeks (or more) of continuous service prior to the expected date of birth or adoption of their child.

If you are a fixed-term staff member, you may also be entitled to paid parental leave if the period of leave falls within the time span of your fixed-term appointment. If you are subsequently offered another fixed term (or ongoing) appointment, you can extend your date for return from leave into the period of your new appointment.

Continuing and fixed-term staff who are primary carers on contracts of ≥12 months are eligible for:

• Up to 20 weeks* paid parental leave on full pay (or 40 weeks on half pay or a combination).
• Total of 104 weeks combined paid and unpaid leave provided this is taken prior to a child’s second birthday or 104 weeks after placement.

Unpaid parental leave

All continuing staff, after they have completed a minimum of 40 weeks continuous service, are entitled to up to 104 weeks unpaid parental leave from the date of birth or placement of their child. Unpaid parental leave cannot extend beyond your child’s second birthday or 104 weeks from the placement of your child.

In two parent families, both parents can take eight weeks unpaid concurrent parental leave, which can be taken in up to four separate periods of two weeks or more, however, if the staff member who took concurrent leave later becomes the primary carer, then the concurrent leave taken is counted as part of the 104 weeks unpaid parental leave.

Casual staff members are entitled to up to 52 weeks unpaid parental leave from the date of birth or placement of their child if:

• Immediately prior to the proposed date of commencement of their parental leave, they were employed by UTS for at least 12 months on a regular and systematic basis for a continuous period or several periods of employment, or
• They had a reasonable expectation of further employment, notwithstanding their pregnancy/decision to adopt

Detailed information about parental leave entitlements and the process of applying is available on the UTS intranet, Staff Connect (requires a UTS login to access)

Impact of parental leave on superannuation

It is important to note that while you are on parental leave (whether this is at half-pay or unpaid), there may be an impact on your contributions and on our contributions as your employer.

If you would like further advice or information on this, we encourage you to contact your superannuation fund. Visit the Superannuation page on Staff Connect. The Australian Government’s MoneySmart website also provides information about superannuation and financial planning when having a baby.

Access to funding for research during parental leave

UTS provides support, including financial assistance, to academic staff who are active researchers, to enable them to continue with their research programs during parental leave, should they wish.

All research staff should develop a Parental Leave Research Support Plan in consultation with their supervisor, to document the approved research support that will be made available during the period of parental leave. This will include how the research will be continued and the objectives expected to be achieved, funding levels and source(s), arrangements for recruiting casual or fixed term staff to continue aspects of the research, keeping in touch, reporting and feedback arrangements, and the staff member's responsibilities during parental leave.

UTS research support funding is flexible and can be used in a variety of ways such as:

• Re-allocating the work of existing staff and using funding to "back fill" their positions
• Employing casual or fixed-term staff to
  • Continue aspects of your research program
  • Continue elements of your research program of the research group to which you belong.

In practice, this could mean employing a research assistant working in a laboratory to carry out experiments, or conduct archival research or a survey, or employing a PhD student as a research fellow to conduct a literature review or work on publications.

Applying for research funding during parental leave is a different process for applying for parental leave. Visit the Apply to fund my research during parental leave page on Staff Connect for details.

UTS understands that from time to-time you may need to bring your child into work. For example, you may have a young baby, childcare arrangements or plans may have fallen through, or it may be a pupil free day in schools.

We aim to provide facilities which are accessible to those who are accompanied by children, such as stroller entrances in buildings and ramps throughout the campus, parents’ rooms, and baby change facilities in selected male and female toilets. To access the parents' rooms, contact Security on (02) 9514 1192.

Seek approval from your supervisor if you wish to bring children to work, but such requests should be treated sympathetically. Children will not be permitted to enter some areas of the university, such as workshops and laboratories, which are intrinsically hazardous.

UTS Childcare

UTS aims to provide affordable child care facilities for students and staff to meet a range of needs, such as long day care for babies and pre-school aged children. There are two not-for-profit long day care centres that service the UTS City campus at Broadway: Blackfriars Children’s Centre and Magic Pudding Child Care Centre.

These centres provide high quality, affordable care that meet the needs of children from the university community and other groups.

Access to their services is open to all staff, although no child is guaranteed a place and waiting times generally apply. ​

You are eligible to apply for childcare at UTS if you work at UTS, have a child aged six weeks to five years, or are expecting a child, and will require at least two days of child care per week.

Carers leave

We understand that there may be times when you may not be able to work due to disruption of your childcare arrangements or when your child is ill. If you are a continuing or fixed term staff member, you can access up to 15 days paid sick leave and 7 days paid personal leave as carer’s leave.

Staff, students and visitors are welcome to breastfeed on campus. If they prefer a private space for feeding their baby, expressing milk and/or nappy changing, dedicated rooms are available at the following locations at the city campus:

Broadway/Ultimo

• CB01.05.05B*
• CB01.13.048 (Nappy change table not available in this room)
• CB02.03.175
• CB05A.01.19 (via Darling Drive, accessed through study spaces)
• CB07.03.027*
• CB10.11.100.

Moore Park

• MP01.03.71

*Note: These rooms may be easier for visitors to access due to their location. CB01.05.05B is most accessible by visitors as security card access is not required unless outside of standard university hours.

The rooms may be locked to maintain privacy and cleanliness.  

If you are a visitor to UTS who needs access to a room, contact Security on 9514 1192, who can send a guard to open the door or unlock it remotely.  

If you are a student or staff member who needs regular access, contact Security on 9514 1192 or email security.general@uts.edu.au to request access be added to your UTS staff or student card.

Breastfeeding students can request flexible arrangements to support them with meeting their course requirements in relation to course work, assessment and practical work or clinical placement. Students should consult their lecturer or supervisor directly, or the Academic Liaison Officer (ALO) in their faculty to make arrangements for assignments or exams, or other assistance required to support them with their studies. 

Breastfeeding staff members may wish to negotiate a flexible work arrangement in addition to taking lactation breaks. In general, flexible work arrangements should be negotiated between a staff member and their immediate supervisor, taking into account both the individual staff member and work unit’s needs.

UTS is an Australian Breastfeeding Association accredited Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace.

Handy 'Breastfeeding at UTS' documents 

Breastfeeding at UTS guidelines

We offer a range of support options to enable staff who are carers to effectively balance their work and study commitments with their carers' responsibilities.

UTS were the first organisation to achieve level 1 accreditation as part of the Carers NSW, Carers+Employers program. This acknowledges UTS as going beyond offering the minimum workplace rights to actively developing specific carer programs, whilst demonstrating ongoing promotion and celebration of carers and their valuable contribution to society. 

UTS also offers support for students who are carers – find out more on the students' section of our website.

We are committed to supporting staff to achieve optimal work/life balance, and recognise the benefits for both individuals and our university. We offer a wide range of flexible work options to help you meet your family responsibilities and enable you to pursue personal interests such as sport, study or cultural activities.

Federal employment law sets out that that the right to request flexible work arrangements is available to employees who:

• Are a parent, or have responsibility for the care of a child who is of school age or younger
• Are a carer (i.e. you provide personal care, support and assistance for someone due to disability, medical condition/ illness or who is frail aged)
• Have a disability
• Are 55 or older
• Are experiencing violence from a family member
• Provide care or support to a member of their immediate family or household who requires care or support because they are experiencing family violence

UTS must consider all requests for flexible working arrangements and respond in writing to any staff members who meet these criteria, within 21 days of the request being made. Requests can only be refused on reasonable business grounds.

Furthermore, UTS is committed to fostering a culture that makes flexible work available for all staff. By offering a wide range of options, we aim to not only support work/life balance for individual staff, but also achieve UTS’s strategic objectives of promoting new ways of working and supporting a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.

In negotiating flexible working arrangements, consideration will need to be given to factors such as your personal circumstances, the needs of your work area, and the nature of your work. It is important that there is open dialogue between you and your manager about how flexibility can work in your specific situation.

What do flexible work arrangements look like?

We recognise that each situation is unique so flexible work arrangements – temporary or permanent – are negotiated individually between you and your supervisor. These can include options such as:

• A change to work hours, e.g. full-time to part-time or part-year/sessional work
• Compressed working weeks eg working 70 hours in 9 days or 140 hours in 19 days in order to accrue a regular day off, or late start times and/or early finish times to accommodate personal commitments such as family obligations
• Time-in-lieu
• Telecommuting (including working from home)
• Job sharing – Rostered days off (RDOs)
• Flexitime
• Purchased leave

How to apply for flexible working arrangements

Visit the Work/life balance page on Staff Connect (opens the UTS intranet – requires a UTS login to access).