Shiftwork & Separation

• General News
• 4th April 2013

It’s a controversial subject but shift-work families need to be flexible when making parenting arrangements. Slater-Gordon Lawyer Suzanne Holgate writes about a very sensitive issue.

Separating parents often need to negotiate the arrangements for their children.

Early separation can be an emotional time and it is difficult for parents to put the interests of the children ahead of their own desires for arrangements to be around the parents’ schedules for study or work.

This is even more challenging when a parent is a shift worker – with many rosters requiring them to spend extended periods away from home.

There can be a misconception by separating parents that the children should live with one parent (primary carer) and spend time with the other parent (non-primary parent) on alternate weekends.

This mistaken assumption can lead the primary parent to be inflexible when accommodating a shift work or ‘fly in, fly out’ roster.

The family law provides that in circumstances where parents have shared parental responsibility then
equal time with each parent must be considered.

It is only in exceptional cases where a shared time arrangement will work.

However, if equal time is not appropriate, then the court must make orders which provide that the children spend significant and substantial time with the other parent.

Each alternate weekend is not normally considered to be significant and substantial time and will be dependent on the circumstances of each case.

Significant and substantial time should allow both parents involved in school, sports and other areas of their child’s life.

In a recent court decision, a judge made an Order to allow a shift-working father time with the children to “align the time the children spend with him with his work roster”.

The judge went one step further and stated that the mother “exaggerated the inflexibility of her own situation … at the same time she exaggerated the father’s flexibility”.

If shift and rostered workers are unable to change their roster, they – and the other parent – are expected to be as reasonable as possible.

The legislation provides that children have a right to a meaningful relationship with both parents and parents must facilitate that meaningful relationship.

It is important that parents try to put their own feelings aside and put the interests of the children before their own.