Employers are pushing to exempt millions of IT, administrative and finance workers from penalty rates and overtime in return for a salary increase, as the expansion of working from home makes recording office hours unworkable.

The Australian Industry Group has called on the Fair Work Commission to introduce a 125 per cent exemption rate in the clerks and banking awards, estimated to collectively cover more than 2 million workers, to avoid businesses imposing a “bundy clock mentality” on salaried office workers that forces them to clock in and out of work.