Union wants 'presumed' right to work from home, as Labor weighs new law

Australia Broadcast Center

17-06-2025

Clerical workers should be allowed to work from home unless their bosses can demonstrate that doing so would be impractical or bad for business, according to Australia's largest white-collar union.
The Australian Services Union (ASU) has told the workplace umpire there should be a legally binding presumption towards approving requests for remote work in the admin sector unless there are "reasonable business grounds" for refusal.
The proposal obtained by the ABC is part of an ongoing Fair Work Commission (FWC) process to better reflect the modern reality of working from home in the legal award for clerical workers, seen as a test case for other workers in the award system.
Business group Ai Group has proposed to the FWC that working from home be agreed between employers and employees and that penalty rates, overtime and other standard perks should not apply to workers who can choose when and where they do their work.
The process is playing out in the context of mounting expectations that the federal government will legislate a work-from-home right for all workers.
While that plan is still in its early days, it looms as the next frontier for Labor as it seeks to build on the sweeping workplace reforms of its first term, when it ticked off several items on the union wishlist, including the right to disconnect over business objections.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday that working from home was "important to provide the kind of flexibility which is key to a modern economy" but signalled a desire for flexibility and consensus-building.
"Obviously, it needs to be within reason, it needs to work for employees and employers and the best place for that to be worked out is at the workplace level," he said.
"This is a good example, I think, of where the union movement and employers can work together to make sure we are creating and nourishing the kind of labour market which is so important to a dynamic, modern economy like ours."
The tussle over the clerical award suggests little prospect of consensus between business and unions over any legislation, with the two poles apart.
The ASU suggests employers be required to "genuinely try" to accommodate any request to work from home and refuse only for reasons such as cost, practicality, security or health and safety risks, with a dispute mechanism for workers unsatisfied with refusal.
AiG's proposal, first reported in The Australian and obtained by the ABC, said any agreement on work from home should be voluntary and without "coercion or duress".
The proposal was provided on the basis that it was "strictly confidential and without prejudice" in order to facilitate discussion.
While the issue will be led by newly appointed Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth, who has also promised a consensus-building approach, it will also spill over to Treasurer Jim Chalmers's productivity agenda.
Mr Chalmers will shed more light on his plans for a productivity round table when he addresses the National Press Club on Wednesday.
The round table, scheduled for August, will have a tight agenda and a tight invite list, to be held in the cabinet room and focus on a set of policy areas.
Senior business and union leaders are likely to be involved in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has framed as an exercise in building a case for economic reform.
Mr Albanese told the press club last week that Labor wanted "consensus" from the forum, but business groups will enter with scepticism after the similar Jobs and Skills Summit in Labor's first term set the stage for workplace changes they opposed.
Mr Chalmers said he expected that working from home would be raised and was also open to tax reform proposals.
"We've made it really clear already that productivity is the primary focus of the round tables but not the sole focus," he said, adding budget sustainability and economic resilience would also be discussed.
"I welcome tax being an important part of the conversation [and] the ideas that people raise at the round table in the second half of August.
"I think it would be hard to come at these sorts of issues … without people raising their ideas when it comes to tax."