Fair Work Commission looks into WFH rights for office workers

The Fair Work Commission will review whether work-from-home rules for clerical workers are “fit for purpose”.

The Fair Work Commission will look into expanding work-from-home (WFH) rights for clerical workers in a move that could impact millions of office workers around the country.

Fair Work announced on Thursday that it would develop a working-from-home term that could give private sector clerical workers a legal right to request to work from home, with the first hearing to take place on September 13.

Commission heads said the question of whether current WFH provisions were “’fit for purpose’” was a “significant one”.

“It is readily apparent that the provision of awards which apply to industry sectors where working from home is most prevalent, such as the Clerks Award, do not necessarily match the practical arrangements by which employees work at home in actuality,” they said in a statement.

They said working from home was “an important issue relevant to balancing work and care and job security” and they would consequently give it “priority consideration.”

While Fair Work will focus specifically on people earning under the Clerks Award, the commission heads said the term developed “may serve as a model for incorporation in other modern awards, with or without adaptation”.

In other words, it could be rolled out to other sections of the workforce.

The Fair Work Commission’s announcement comes after unions pushed for broader WFH rights for award-earning workers.