Victoria’s WFH rights extended to SMBs

The Victorian government has confirmed two-day-a-week WFH mandates for SMB employees, saying the change will promote fairness, making life easier and more affordable.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Victorian Regional Chamber Alliance, which was received post-publication.

Victoria’s government today confirmed (Tuesday, 3 March) that it would be extending its work-from-home (WFH) laws to employees of small businesses – the first major update of the state’s world-first WFH laws.

In a statement, the Victorian government said the laws will make life fairer, easier, and more affordable for more people.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (pictured) said this change will benefit families, save time and money, and allow more parents to work.

“If you can work from home for a small business, you deserve the same rights as someone working for a big bank. Not everyone can work from home, but everyone can benefit,” Allan said.

The Victorian government noted that flexibility is less common in SMBs, where more than 1.3 million Victorians work.

According to a Victorian government survey, three in four employees considered WFH rights extremely important; over 3,200 employees said their employers would probably not allow them to work from home; and those who did not work from home but could in theory were refused.

Victorian Minister for Industrial Relations Jaclyn Symes stressed that WFH cuts costs but not productivity. “Many workers who work from home already turn travel time into work time – saving them money and benefiting their employer,” she said.

Despite this, the Victorian Regional Chamber Alliance (VRCA) told HR Leader that this reform will impact small businesses, which make up 97 per cent of Victorian businesses, with regional and rural businesses copping more of the brunt.

Political game-playing

Australian Industry Group also clapped back, calling the change political game-playing and stressed that it would cause reverberations across Victoria’s economy and employment.

The group’s Victorian head, Tim Piper, argued that the Victorian government had dragged out WFH legislation announcements for the entire week. “Today it’s about exemptions in the legislation, but when will the public know how they intend to make this legislation work and its timing?” Piper said.

“The intent of the legislation and the way the government is announcing it suggests political opportunism. It will cost Victorian jobs and impact on the Victorian economy.”

Piper also called the change a cynical exercise targeting the state’s election in November and said it shows the government is unfazed by the burden on business, division, and how it could lead to unions demanding pay increases for workers who cannot work from home.

“The state government would be much better showing support for local businesses rather than treating them in this manner and removing this important employment flexibility,” Piper said.

"Placing these arrangements in legislation removes the autonomy small businesses rely on to run their businesses effectively," VRCA added.

"To improve the economy, productivity must be protected, and the proposed legislation privileges select industries and overlooks others, deterring workers from sectors that fall outside of the bounds, such as construction, childcare, retail, and hospitality," it stressed.

"This is an unfortunate example of over-governance that further muddles the structure of industry, micro-managing systems that are not under threat, whilst
ignoring deeper issues," VRCA concluded.

This follows the Victorian government’s initial announcement of a proposal for two days of work from home for all Victorians in August last year, which Piper described as political theatre and which other employers expressed disagreement over.