Workers are following the flexible jobs
Before accepting her current role, she had conversations with a competing firm, but quickly decided the role wasn't for her. 'It was clear from the conversations I was having with that workplace that there was not going to be a lot of flexibility to work from home,' she says.
She accepted her current role two years ago because she felt her needs would be met and hasn't looked back.
She works in the office three days a week and from home two days but can switch the days around. She can even work an extra day from home if that suits her without having to ask permission.
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'We just communicate within our own team at the end of each week what works best for us the following week based on our own schedules,' she says.
Back to work
Liz and Ruben are part of a growing number of workers opting out of workplaces with rigid rules on where they need to work in favour of roles that openly promote work from home days.
Ruben says she designed a life that works for her. 'Work is a big part of your life and there's no point being miserable.'
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However, large Australian companies are continuing to mandate hard and fast work from the office arrangements, creating tensions in the workplace.
Nearly 39,000 staff members at National Australia Bank were asked to increase the number of days they spend in the office each week. The bank is one of a growing number of businesses moving away from the work from home model.
Other companies pushing for staff to get back to the office five days a week include Amazon, Dell, CommBank and the NSW government.
Meanwhile, Sydney father Paul Collins took his employer to the Fair Work Commission seeking a continuation of the flexible working arrangements he had been enjoying since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Collins, who works for global software company Intersystems Australia, wanted to continue working from home on Wednesdays and Thursdays to care for his children and because he needed 'work-life balance'. His workplace refused his request under a new ruling requiring all staff to return to the office full-time.
But his request was overruled by Fair Work, which said the application he had lodged because of his preference to continue working from home did not relate to his parental responsibilities.
Workers are required to show they have a good enough reason to request to work from home, while Fair Work Deputy President Lyndall Dean found a 'preference' to continue working from home wasn't enough.
In Victoria, the state government is seeking to legislate a right to work from home.
But Ruben says it's always worth asking the boss for more flexibility.
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