Business lobby warns working from home laws could send jobs interstate

3 months ago 18

Victoria’s peak business lobby group says jobs could be lost if working from home is enshrined in law in the state, while the union movement has welcomed proposed changes allowing employees to work remotely to “make people’s lives easier”.

Private and public sector workers would have the right to work from home at least two days a week under new legislation proposed by the Allan government.

Premier Jacinta Allan at Labor’s state conference on Saturday.

Premier Jacinta Allan announced the policy on Saturday while addressing the party faithful at Victorian Labor’s state conference.

The laws aim to allow employees who can “reasonably” do their job from home to do so for at least two days a week, with exemptions when remote working is not practicable.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra called the change “perplexing”, considering the federal government was currently focused on boosting productivity through an economic reform roundtable.

“If Victoria moves away from the legislated national system, businesses will move interstate and jobs will be lost,” he said.

“If we want businesses to be productive – and to raise the economic prospects of everyone in this state and this country – we need to get out of their way and let them operate in a way that best suits their model.”

Guerra said the proposal could damage productivity and teamwork, and might create further inequity because only a small number of people would actually be able to work from home.

“[Working from home] certainly works well in some contexts, but that should be determined by the employer in consultation with the employee,” he said.

Victorian Trades Hall secretary Luke Hilakari was supportive of the move, noting that 40 per cent of workers were already doing some variation of hybrid work, according to the Grattan Institute.

“Working from home is probably the greatest improvement to work-life balance since we won the weekend ... so for [Labor] to enshrine it, it’s a big deal,” he said.

“There’s some mistrust out there that people will be doing the wrong things [while working from home].

“But the truth is, it just makes people’s lives easier. That’s especially so for women – women’s participation in the workforce has gone up a whole notch.”

Consultation on the laws will be led by the Department of Premier and Cabinet. It will consider the type and size of businesses covered by the scheme, who can reasonably do their job from home, and must also arrive at an acceptable definition of what constitutes remote working.

Daniel Victory, principal lawyer in employment and industrial law at Maurice Blackburn, called the topic of working from home a “barbecue stopper” – it was the No.1 employment issue people wanted to talk about.

He said it would likely be easier for the government to enshrine hybrid work in law for those in the public sector under current workplace laws.

“Trying to enshrine a right [to work from home] for the private sector might be open to challenge, but we’ll just have to wait and see what the legislation is and how it’s framed,” he said.

“Even if an employer could challenge it, I don’t know why they would challenge a right like this if it’s reasonable ... any employer who doesn’t want to allow work from home, it sort of like feels like they want to go back to the dinosaur ages.”

Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece told Nine’s Today program it was clear that hybrid work arrangements were not going away but it was important not to lose “collaboration and new ideas” that came with being physically present in the workplace.

“Family-friendly, flexible workplaces should absolutely be here to stay,” he said. “But I also know that Melbourne’s at its best when it’s full of people, and I think workplaces are at their best when they’re full of people.”

The government expects to pass the laws next year, setting the stage for the 2026 state poll as the first major policy announcement to be debated in an election year.

After widespread outcry earlier this year, former federal opposition leader Peter Dutton backflipped mid-campaign on his election promise to end flexible work rules for public servants in Canberra.

State Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the Victorian Liberals recognised that hybrid work arrangements had become a “valuable” option for workers.

“We support measures that help Victorians enjoy a better work-life balance, and will review any legislation closely, to ensure it supports flexibility, productivity, and personal choice,” he said.

Hilakari warned the Liberal Party should be “very cautious” about opposing any legislation which enshrined working from home in law. “They saw what happened at the last federal election ... If the Victorian Liberal Party goes against it, well, the trade union movement will be running on this all the way to the ballot box.”

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