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.
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