The COVID-19 pandemic wrought massive change on our lives, and now we are about to see if it will impact on one of the great touchstones of Australian society: industrial relations.
The Fair Work Commission is considering the alteration of awards to include the right to work from home.
Working from home has been especially beneficial for womenCredit: iStock
The commission is investigating if there is a need to change basic rights for up to about 2.2 million Australians who are covered by awards to accommodate new working arrangements. It is a huge move that reflects how the digital age has blurred the lines between the workplace and home.
If the commission recommends awards should include working-from-home rights, several million other workers on enterprise agreements could also push for the same flexibility.
The Minister for Workplace Relations, Tony Burke, called on the commission in September to review modern awards, which contain industry-specific pay and conditions, by considering factors such as job security and a Greens-led Senate inquiry into work and care. That Senate report was also the basis for this month’s controversial right-to-disconnect laws, which give workers the right to ignore their employers’ after hours calls and texts.
It is not difficult to find people who argue passionately about the perils or benefits of working from home. There are plenty of academic studies concluding remote work promotes productivity. There are also new reports purporting to show remote work might not be as productive as once thought.
Either way, business thinks it’s bad for business. High-profile magnate Elon Musk believes anyone working from home is “phoning it in”. Even Zoom, one of the main technologies that is a prerequisite for working from home, has summonsed some employees back to the office for at least two days a week. Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash urged the government to focus on increasing productivity instead of creating rigid new workplace rules.
There is no doubt the digital age and the pandemic have changed the way many employees perceive and carry out their jobs. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released last December, 37 per cent of employed people regularly worked from home, down from 40 per cent in August 2021.
Government should tread carefully on enshrining work from home rights
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22.02.2024
The COVID-19 pandemic wrought massive change on our lives, and now we are about to see if it will impact on one of the great touchstones of Australian society: industrial relations.
The Fair Work Commission is considering the alteration of awards to include the right to work from home.
Working from home has been especially beneficial for womenCredit: iStock
The commission is investigating if there is a need to change basic rights for up to about 2.2 million Australians who are covered by awards to accommodate new working arrangements. It is a huge move that reflects how the........
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