By DAVID BRAITHWAITE

 

 

THE state government’s plan to legislate work from home rights for employees may not come to fruition.

The Labor government’s amended bill was introduced into parliament last Thursday, but the legislation will be scrutinised by the parliamentary committee following a successful motion by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party Member for Eastern Victoria, Jeff Bourman. The motion was supported by Liberal, National and crossbench upper house MPs, including former Labor minister, now independent Adem Somyurek. Greens MPs and Animal Justice MP Georgie Purcell abstained from voting.

The bill is unlikely to become law before the November 28 state election. The committee is due to report on the bill on October 20, after the parliament’s last scheduled sitting day before the election.

It means the future of legislating work from home rights is likely to be determined by which party wins the election.

Under the changes to the legislation, the legal right to work from home two days a week were to be pushed back until July 1 in 2027, while for small businesses – those with less than 15 staff – it would have been delayed six months to January 1, 2028.

The state government said it has made “sensible amendments to get the balance right”, with amendments addressing issues raised in consultation and provide a lasting framework for working from home.

Workers whose jobs could reasonably be done from home would have the right to work from home two days a week.

The new amendments simplify and clarify the legislation to address areas of uncertainty, including clarifying that the laws will only apply to employees who reside in Victoria.

The definition of ‘home’ was amended to mean the employee’s principal place of residence, or a location agreed between the employer and employee.

Reasonable costs payable by the employer were limited to essential equipment, like a laptop and software required to complete tasks, while employers would not be responsible for paying for home internet or other basic utilities.

When the employer has a clear operational need which may make work from home arrangements unreasonable – such as a trade show, major event, peak trading period or requirement for in-person customer service – they could issue a notice to temporarily pause or revoke arrangements for those days and times.

For employees who work fewer than 38 hours a week, the entitlement would be 40 per cent of their weekly working hours.

Employers would have 28 days to respond to work from home requests.