Employers and unions are urging the FWC in its self-initiated test case to insert WFH provisions in the clerks award, but are starkly divided on whether workers should have a right to request, while academics back extending it to all – with protections – to boost equity.
The Greens will use their balance of power in the Senate to seek to amend the Fair Work Act to give workers the right to work at least two days a week from home if it is "practical and reasonable", echoing Victoria's recent policy proposal.
The FWC is inviting quick submissions in its crucial work from home test case ahead of a directions hearing pushed back to September 5, after providing data underpinning WFH research criticised by the Australian Industry Group, while Victoria is consulting on WFH legislation to be introduced next year.
Victoria's Allan Government says it is considering using the State's equal opportunity laws to enshrine a two-day-per-week work-from-home "right" for public and private sector employees, while an IR expert suggests questions around its enforceability might be beside the point.
A worker who insisted on toiling from his hospital bed almost immediately after bowel surgery has failed to overturn his dismissal for repeatedly flouting a direction to work within ordinary hours.
Employers are seeking work-from-home-related changes to the clerks award to make it easier to spread out working hours without requiring penalty rates, remove minimum engagement restrictions and overhaul meal and rest break provisions.
The FWC has pointed to a Victoria Police branch's brush with the "red line threshold" for public sector service delivery as reinforcing the business case for rejecting a prosecutor's request to work from home on Mondays.
A FWC full bench led by President Adam Hatcher has abruptly ended conciliation of the crucial clerks award WFH case after a "highly regrettable" leak of confidential information to the media, while issuing a broader warning that participants should respect processes conducted behind-closed-doors.
A Metcash coordinator working from home since she started her job during the coronavirus pandemic has won rare flexibility orders requiring the distribution giant to exempt her from a directive to return to the office, so she can minimise risks for her child with cystic fibrosis.
The FWC has made it clear that a "mere preference" for working at home without providing sufficient evidence of responsibilities or needs will not pass the first hurdle for a flexible work order.
