The holiday is officially over for entitled WFH brigade

People have developed a sense of entitlement to work from home but a landmark case proves the “holiday” is over, says Caleb Bond.

OPINION

The work-from-home holiday is over.

It’s not that you can’t work from home at all – but the Fair Work Commission has upheld that bosses can reasonably demand that staff spend some time in the office.

Adelaide bloke, Charles Gregory, told his employer, Maxxia, that he needed to work from home all the time because he had a bowel complaint that required him to go to the toilet “with urgency and more frequently than usual”.

Maxxia, as you might imagine, thought that was crap.

He also said he had to look after his child every second week under custody arrangements.

His employer saw no issue with that and offered to schedule his days in the office on weeks where he didn’t have his child.

They even offered to move his desk to give him more ready access to the loo but, according to the FWC, Mr Gregory “gave the impression that he did not want to use the office toilet – this was somewhat perplexing given his preparedness to use service station toilets if needed while driving around Adelaide”.

An Adelaide man claimed he had to work from home to be near a toilet and for custody arrangements. Picture: iStock, posed by model

It all sounds a bit strange. But apart from sounding like a comedy script, this is the test case which proves you cannot work from home all the time.

Maxxia has the reasonable expectation that staff will come to the office 40 per cent of the time.

In the words of the FWC, “the worst of the pandemic appears to have passed and the company is now within its rights to require its employees to return to the office in accordance with their contracts of employment”.

Some workers are, frankly, taking the p*ss.

Many employers, including the Commonwealth Bank, have faced staff revolts when asking employees to return to the office some – not all – of the time.

People clearly developed a sense of entitlement during the pandemic.

Lockdowns and their associated restrictions severely damaged many businesses. Some went bust and others have struggled to recover.

Journalist Caleb Bond says the work from home holiday is over. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

These were government-enforced rules. Businesses didn’t send staff home because they wanted to but because they had to.

And, on the other side, some are determined to continue making life as difficult as possible for their employers.

Some jobs require you to spend time in the office. It was a condition of your employment prior to the pandemic – so why would it not be now?

The government forcing you to work from home didn’t give you carte blanche to demand that arrangement continue forever more.

It disadvantages your colleagues who do actually go to the office and conduct business face-to-face. It makes it harder for your boss and your workmates to get hold of you and, in many cases, it results in reduced productivity.

Many would have little sympathy for big businesses but spare a thought for small and medium-sized businesses that, like the rest of us, are battling higher interest rates and operating costs.

They need obstinate employees like they need a hole in the head.

Few employers have been rabid in their requests for staff to return to the office. Hybrid arrangements are now the norm, even though they weren’t negotiated into people’s contracts.

Being able to work from home is a privilege many cannot enjoy.

Spare a thought for the person scanning your groceries while you grumble about the fact your boss wants you in the office three days a week.

In this Fair Work case, sanity has prevailed.

Caleb Bond is an Sydney-based commentator and host of The Late Debate on Sky News Australia.