The commission wants unions and businesses to weigh in on working from home as it examines ways to improve conditions for people with caring responsibilities,while corporations attempt to reverse the office drain by requiring employees to return to the workplace.
In calls panned by a union at the forefront of the work-from-home battle as “an outrageous attempt to drive down employees’ conditions”,the key employer groups want an end to clauses requiring ordinary hours be worked continuously for people at home.
Ai Group’s head of national workplace relations policy,Brent Ferguson,said there was a “glaring need” to allow for workplace agreements where workers could make up time spent on household duties outside of ordinary hours.
“All too often restrictive provisions in awards currently prevent employers delivering employees the kinds of flexibilities they want,” Ferguson said. “Awards need to reflect the reality of the dramatic changes that have occurred in relation to the prevalence of work from home arrangements.”
Ai Group’s submission says “make-up” time would most commonly arise for parents of young children,“who wish to spend time with their children when they would otherwise be required to work;and to subsequently ‘make up’ this time at night,after their children have gone to bed.”
It raised a number of awards as examples to show that work done outside of ordinary hours would usually include overtime rates.