As someone with a good knowledge of the labour market, the laws passed in federal parliament in October — as part of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay bill — will make it easier to challenge a boss who won’t let you work from home.
We get plenty of young mums wanting to work from home. It makes sense not driving two hours a day in heavy traffic.
HR boffins didn’t want people to work from home because they thought they’d slack off or injure themselves and then litigate.
That’s changing. The bill will require that employers genuinely make changes to accommodate flexible working requests.
Workers experiencing domestic or family violence will also be entitled to ask for flexible work arrangements.
The changes give the Fair Work Commission the ability to hear and arbitrate disputes about whether an employer’s refusal was valid.
While some say the Fair Work Commission is a paper tiger, it’s better than nothing.
I wrote this ages ago about the positives of working from home: