Australians should be able to do deals with their bosses to exchange public holidays for alternative days off, according to a leading expert who says it would boost workplace flexibility.

With a growing number of employers allowing staff to work on the Australia Day public holiday, University of Southern Queensland Professor Fabrizio Carmignani says all public holidays should become optional if employees would rather have another day off.

He said it would be beneficial for workers and bosses alike, particularly in cases where staff want to celebrate cultural or religious events that aren’t official public holidays in Australia.

“I’m looking at this from an economics point of view,” Carmignani said.

“It’s a fact that we’re seeing more employers thinking about ways to generate more flexibility for their workers, and there are good reasons why we want to generate more flexibility for workers.

“A more flexible type of workplace has the opportunity to create greater satisfaction for the workforce and increase retention.”

A growing number of businesses are giving their workers the option of showing up for the Australia Day holiday, amid falling support for the holiday among voters.

That includes Telstra, Network Ten, Woodside Energy and the University of Wollongong.

Carmignani said the exchange of days shouldn’t just be restricted to Australia Day and should encompass every public holiday on the calendar, stressing there would need to be agreement between bosses and workers about how the arrangement would work and what’s allowed.

“This can’t be a unilateral decision [from workers],” he said.

“It’s an opportunity for businesses to consider doing something in the context of this broader new approach to workplace flexibility.”

Carmignani said flexibility has become an increasing priority for businesses since COVID-19 amid widespread labour shortages that have forced many workplaces to up their game.

In other words, workers are looking for more than just a solid salary from their jobs these days.

“The ability of employers to recruit good candidates is not just about the salary package they offer,” Carmignani said.

“It’s more generally about the types of flexible arrangements they provide.”

Australia’s public holiday system is regulated nationally and, to some extent, at a state level, but nothing prevents businesses from doing bespoke deals with workers about when they work.

In some industries the practice of exchanging public holidays for leave on other days is already well established, including throughout the media, where it is typical to work on public holidays.

Carmignani said arrangements for individual businesses will ultimately depend on the industry the operate in, as well as the particular type of work a staff member does.

For example, it might not be feasible for someone who works in customer service to take off a public holiday if that day may bring in an influx of customers for their business.

But on the flip side, office workers who primarily engage in individual work could benefit from working on a public holiday without distractions and then substituting the leave later in the year.

Carmignani said there should be limits on how many public holidays could be exchanged in a year, which could prevent workers from stashing away a series of extra days into a holiday.

“There has to be a conversation with the employer,” he said.

“There needs to be clear arrangements established initially.”