Susie O’Brien: Federal public servants aren’t the only ones slacking off at home when they’re meant to be working

There’s no reason a young person, living with their parents and with no caring responsibilities, should be working from home — they should be at their worksite four days a week.

Warning: Unpopular opinion ahead.

Unless people are working from home for legitimate reasons such as caring for kids or elderly parents, they should be back in the office four days a week.

Why should a 21-year-old still living at home with no responsibilities at all be WFH rather than RTO (returning to the office)?

This should apply to federal and state public servants, as well as the private sector.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is mean-spirited in singling out the federal public service as nomads phoning it in from campervans who should present in person five days a week.

Returning to the office should apply to all workers without legitimate reasons for performing their job at home.

Federal public servants aren’t the only ones who are slacking off at home when they are meant to be working. In fact, working from home levels are highest in finance and communications, not the public service.

All workplaces, where practical, should go back to pre-Covid attendance levels, with about one in five working flexible hours, not just those in the public sector.

It’s time that we moved away from seeing working from home as an automatic right regardless of need.

Working from home helps women, but it shouldn’t be a blanket expectation of all women. It should be based on needs, such as caring responsibilities, sickness or disability, regardless of gender.

The issue has suddenly become a hot election issue, with Labor calculating that it costs up to $5000 a year for workers to commute.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire

It’s a political distraction because the real economic imperative is not the commuting costs of workers, but the productivity of businesses, including the public service.

In Melbourne, where our lockdown was longer and harsher than anywhere else in the country, our city is still struggling to reopen amid the dramatic drop in workers attending in person.

The prosperity of our state depends on full worker productivity, which can only happen if most people return to the office most of the time.

Sure, working from home was fabulous – no commuting, access to the fridge, canine
co-workers and comfy clothing – but all good things must come to an end.

People, it’s time to get out of your PJs at least four days a week and get back into the office.

Your dog may not like it, but your boss sure will.