Commission Rules Against Working From Home 100 Percent of the Time

A Metro train can be seen in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 30, 2023. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

Australia’s business leaders have achieved victory with a Fair Work Commission (FWC) case decision that will essentially rule out a permanent work from home option for many employees across the country.

The FWC case involved a man named Charles Gregory, who was working for Maxxia, a salary packaging company in Adelaide. He petitioned to work from home 100 percent of the time so he could care for his young child.

On Nov. 16, the FWC declared that Maxxia had every right to deny Mr. Gregory’s request to never return to his office regularly.

Commissioner Christopher Platt said it was reasonable for the company to expect Mr. Gregory’s presence at the office for at least 40 percent of the time that he was not caring for his child.

“I accept that it is desirable for there to be face to face contact within workforce team. I accept that a face to face presence would allow for observation, interaction and (if necessary) coaching to improve Mr. Gregory’s productivity and provide him with greater support,” Mr. Platt said.

This decision creates a precedent and deters other staff from launching similar cases.

“The worst of the pandemic appears to have passed and the company is now within its rights to require its employees to return to the office in accordance with their contracts of employment,” the Commission stated.

Prominent Australian business leaders and companies are implementing policies that align with the decision.

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has today sent emails out to staff in Australia, New Zealand, Manila, and Bengaluru warning that failure to strictly comply with company policies regarding hybrid work could result in a loss of pay.

“Working in line with ANZ’s expectations for hybrid working, as well as any specific commitments within your team, is just like any other behavioural expectation at ANZ,” an email read.

“This means if you don’t meet the standards expected it may factor into your performance rating and PRR (performance and remuneration review) outcomes at the end of the FY24 year.”

The emails came in line with the bank’s managers this week informing staff that they are expected to spend at least half of their working hours in the office each month.

Although ANZ introduced this 50 percent attendance target in Nov. 2022, CEO Shayne Elliot told 3AW Radio in October that on a given day, only 40 percent of staff could be found in the office.

“We are two-thirds of what we used to be”, Mr. Elliott said.

The working from home (WFH) movement has become more and more popularised in Australia since the COVID-19 pandemic, with employees finding out that they prefer hybrid working arrangements.

According to a survey conducted by the University of Melbourne in September 2020, just under 70 percent of Australians who were working from home would like to continue doing so.

The survey found that working from home is highest among 25-34 year olds, with more men working from home than women. About 55 percent of younger employees (aged 18-24) are still working on site, compared to 45 percent working from home.

In 2023, the trend is still incredibly prevalent, with some of the central business districts (CBDs) in Australia’s major cities still struggling to fill office space.

According to figures from commercial real estate company CBRE, Melbourne employees are the most resistant to return-to-office mandates, with Australia’s lowest office attendance rate of 56 percent during the third quarter.

This is after a 13 percentage point increase in the average occupancy rate over the year until September.

In contrast, the Sydney CBD recorded the strongest rebound in occupancy rates, jumping 26 percentage points over the past 12 months. Similarly, the Brisbane CBD has an occupancy rate of 75 percent, a 12 percent increase from last year.

Melbourne is unique in that not only is its CBD less accessible because of traffic congestion and parking costs, but it had the most restrictive and prolonged COVID-19 mandates imposed on its residents by former Premier Daniel Andrews.

A ‘Pro-Employee’ Movement

WFH is part of what has been an overarching movement by employees to achieve more flexible and lenient working conditions. Accompanying it has been the “quiet-quitting trend” that went viral on social media in the middle of 2022.

Quiet quitting is a silent protest by employees who fulfil the bare minimum of their job requirements and aren’t taking initiative to go above and beyond, such as working overtime or volunteering for extra responsibilities.

Earlier this year, Melbourne-based millionaire property developer Tim Gurner remarked about how pain in the economy must be realised to change employee attitudes and subsequently improve slumping productivity.

“Unemployment has to jump 40-50 percent in my view. We need to see pain in the economy. We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around,” Mr. Gurner said at an AFR summit in September.

“There’s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them as opposed to the other way around.”

Unemployment isn’t likely to remain low for much longer, with stagflation—a situation in which high inflation is accompanied by higher unemployment—on the rise in the Australian economy.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), unemployment rose 0.7 percent between September and October, with a number of major banks and consultancy firms engaging in mass layoffs.