The Coalition says that if they win the upcoming election they will roll back 'work from home' entitlements for federal public servants. It comes after the Fair Work Commission ruled in favour of a dad who wanted an extra "work from home" day due to childcare responsibilities during work time.
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00:00Well, Ros, the Fair Work Act says that if you've been working for an employer for 12
00:08months or more, you can request a work from home arrangement.
00:13And if you fall into one of the following categories, then that request has to be taken
00:17seriously.
00:18So, for instance, if you are the parent of a school-aged child, if you are some other
00:24kind of carer, maybe you have aged parents living with you, if you are pregnant, if you
00:30are over 55, if you are living with a disability, or if you or somebody in your household is
00:37experiencing domestic violence.
00:40If you fall into one of those categories, your request for a work from home arrangement
00:44has to be taken, has to be considered seriously by your employer.
00:49I should stress that the workers' needs or preferences for a work from home arrangement
00:56have to be balanced or considered against the impact on the business or on the employer.
01:02And if it's really going to impact on the efficiency or the productivity of a business
01:08or an employer, then it won't be granted.
01:12So that's what the law says in the Fair Work Act.
01:14Okay, so coming to coalition plans then to wind back work from home entitlements for
01:20federal public servants, how would that policy be achieved?
01:24So the Federal Public Service has achieved a more generous arrangement than what exists
01:30under the Fair Work Act.
01:32So there's an enterprise agreement between the public sector union and the federal government,
01:39and it is generally speaking much more receptive and positive towards requests for working
01:46from home.
01:47So you don't have to fall into one of these categories for your request to be carefully
01:52considered by the employer.
01:56And so what the coalition is saying is that if it gets into office, it will renegotiate
02:03the enterprise agreement and wind back this general receptiveness, this general positive
02:09response to work from home arrangements.
02:14But Roz, I want to stress that if it does that, the entitlements in the Fair Work Act
02:21will remain.
02:22If you're in one of those categories, you'll still be able to put in a request for work
02:27from home, and it will need to be considered very seriously.
02:30And what sorts of work from home disputes have there been under the Fair Work Act entitlements?
02:36There was one very interesting one just recently.
02:39It involved a young dad who was an accounts manager with a logistics firm.
02:45He was already working two days a week from home, but he wanted to work an extra day,
02:49a fortnight from home or away from the office to look after his 18-month-old.
02:56Now, this arrangement would involve him working at a facility or a business called Bubba Desk,
03:03which is like a shared workspace with other co-workers.
03:10But there are kind of nannies who are kind of running around looking after the kids.
03:14But these nannies aren't registered childcare workers, so the parents have to be on site
03:20in case they're needed.
03:22So he acknowledged in his request for this extra day away from the office at the nearby
03:28Bubba Desk facility that he might have to change a nappy, the odd nappy, or settle his
03:34kid as required.
03:36And the employer said, well, no, that's going to impact on our business.
03:39That's going to impact on your productivity, your ability to do your job during work hours.
03:45So it went to the Fair Work Commission, and the Fair Work Commission said, no, it found
03:48in favour of the employee.
03:50And it said the consequences on the business would be, quote, extremely limited, end quote.
03:56And this arrangement wouldn't have any material bearing on the efficiency or productivity
04:01of the company, even if you are changing a nappy or settling a toddler during work hours.