Bold new plan to enshrine Aussies’ ability to request to work from home put forward by unions

Up to 2.5 million Aussies could be granted a major win when it comes to working from home under a bold new plan.

Millions of Australians could be granted the right to request to work from home should a bold plan from the peak union body be adopted.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions want the overhaul so employers would only be able to refuse work from home requests on reasonable grounds and to open up an avenue of appeal to the independent umpire.

Speaking on Thursday, union boss Michele O’Neil said the current minimum conditions were “really outdated”.

“They’re based on this idea that there was a full-time worker bringing home the money, usually a man, and that there was a woman at home doing all the caring for children or for elderly parents or relatives with a disability,” she said.

The ACTU wants the modern awards updated. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“The reality of work now is very different … And trying to balance those responsibilities for care and work have gotten tougher and tougher.”

The union’s proposal was made as part of the Fair Work Commission’s review into the modern awards, which set out the pay and conditions for up to 2.5 million Australians.

More than a third of workers (37 per cent) are now taking advantage of working from home, up 5 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

In its submission, the ACTU highlighted that working from home provisions were not a feature of modern awards.

“The right should be available for all workers, regardless of their length of service or reason for requesting WFH arrangements,” it said.

“Employers should only be permitted to refuse a request on reasonable grounds.”

It also wants awards to be varied to ensure workers have the right to regular, predictable patterns and hours of work.

It comes just days after the Australian Industry Group and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry suggested it was time to end the traditional 9 to 5 shift for those working from home.

More and more Australians are opting to work from home. Picture: iStock

But ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said the right to work from home should not be enshrined in awards because it would make it “very difficult” for an employer to reject a work from home request.

“Many employers, many businesses are happy to agree and many of them are putting in place work from home policies or flexible working arrangements for their staff,” he said.

“And of course then you can arrive at an agreement that someone may be able to work from home one, two, three days a week, whatever it is, whatever it suits the business.

“If this becomes a right, then inevitably in some cases it’s going to be used as a basis for litigation, so you’ll have claims being made, you’ll have cases being brought before the commission.

“It gets harder and harder for people who want to run a small business to do that without having to respond to all of this red tape and end up in a situation where if there isn’t an agreement, then they’re in front of the commission, they’re taking time off, they’re facing costs and penalties.”

Originally published as Bold new plan to enshrine Aussies’ ability to request to work from home put forward by unions