The Fair Work Commission is considering the alteration of awards to include the right to work from home.
Working from home has been especially beneficial for womeniStock
The commission is investigating if there is a need to change basic rights for up to about 2.2 million Australians who are covered by awards to accommodate new working arrangements. It is a huge move that reflects how the digital age has blurred the lines between the workplace and home.
If the commission recommends awards should include working-from-home rights,several million other workers on enterprise agreements could also push for the same flexibility.
The Minister for Workplace Relations,Tony Burke,called on the commission in September to review modern awards,which contain industry-specific pay and conditions,by considering factors such as job security and a Greens-led Senate inquiry into work and care. That Senate report was also the basis for this month’s controversial,which give workers the right to ignore their employers’ after hours calls and texts.
It is not difficult to find people who argue passionately about the perils or benefits of working from home. There are plenty of academic studies concluding remote work promotes productivity. There are also new reports purporting to show as once thought.
Either way,business thinks it’s bad for business. High-profile magnate Elon Musk believes anyone working from home is “phoning it in”. Even Zoom one of the main technologies that is a prerequisite for working from home,has summonsed some employees back to the office for at least two days a week. Opposition industrial relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash urged the government to focus on increasing productivity instead of creating rigid new workplace rules.
There is no doubt the digital age and the pandemic have changed the way many employees perceive and carry out their jobs. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released last December,37 per cent of employed people regularly worked from home,down from 40 per cent in August 2021.
In a report released on Thursday,the Committee for Economic Development of Australia found working from home helped more parents with young children and people with disabilities or health conditions join the workforce or take on additional hours.
And one of the biggest societal impacts has been on the number of women entering the workforce. According to theHerald’s Matt Wade,. The labour force participation rate of females aged 15 and over in NSW hit an all-time high of 62.3 per cent in November 2022 and has remained at near record levels ever since. NSW Treasury has noted greater workplace flexibility and increased use of digital technologies since the pandemic,including work from home,have made it easier for women to work.
Business groups are understandably wary,not least because Australia does not have enough workers and employers are struggling to find people to fill vacancies even without workers’ right to work from home.
Just as we were broadly supportive of new legislation giving workers the right to disconnect,we were also concerned that the weight of the new laws would fall unequally:corporations and governments can bear the burden,but not small and medium-sized businesses.
The same provisos should apply if the right to work from home is to be enshrined in industry awards on the recommendation of the Fair Work Commission. The Albanese government needs to tread gently and ensure fairness.
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