{"id":560261,"date":"2026-03-24T03:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T03:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/560261\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T03:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T03:11:08","slug":"pressure-grows-on-companies-to-allow-employees-to-work-from-home-amid-australias-fuel-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/560261\/","title":{"rendered":"Pressure grows on companies to allow employees to work from home amid Australia\u2019s fuel crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pressure is mounting to allow Aussie employees to work from home as fallout from the Iran war and resulting oil crisis grows.<\/p>\n

The Finance Sector Union – which represents roughly half a million workers at financial institutions across the country, including the big four – said on Tuesday it had written to employers urging them to allow staff to \u201cdetermine their own flexible working arrangements\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hearing from our members about all the cost of living pressures \u2014 fuel, rent and mortgages,\u201d Finance Sector Union National Secretary Julia Angrisano told news.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really sensible, easy way that the employers in the finance industry can ease some of that pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Angrisano said workers should have the ability to choose which days they worked from home themselves, rather than having mandated WFH days. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping to see employers step up and take a really cooperative, collaborative approach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know flexible work works. The sector delivered through the pandemic and continues to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes amid a growing push for companies to loosen working arrangements as high petrol prices and fuel shortages bite as a result of the conflict in the Middle East. <\/p>\n

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said on Sunday that Aussies should WFH where possible<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I think that\u2019s a sensible thing to do in any environment, really, you know, work from home has become an important part of Australian working life,\u201d Mr Bowen told ABC\u2019s Insiders.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, issued 10 recommendations over the weekend in response to the global oil shock, which included \u201cwork from home where possible\u201d at the top of the list. <\/p>\n

Other recommendations included reducing speed on the roads, car pooling and avoiding air travel.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some businesses have already enacted new WFH policies.<\/p>\n

Sydney-based SEO agency UR Digital on Monday announced a weekly WFH day for all staff.<\/p>\n

The move was described as a proactive response to the recent doubling in Australian petrol prices and a bid to \u201calleviate the financial and mental burden on team members before any official government mandates are issued\u201d. <\/p>\n

The company estimated it would save employees living in Greater Sydney $35 per week.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor our staff who live further from the CBD or rely on toll roads, costs add up quickly,\u201d said UR Digital Founder Pulkit Agrawal. <\/p>\n

\u201cBy working from home one day a week, we are effectively putting around $1680\u2013$1820 back into an employee\u2019s pocket annually.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to the federal government\u2019s Minimum Stockholding Obligation<\/a>, Australia\u2019s petrol reserves are sitting at 38 days\u2019 worth, while diesel and jet fuel supplies are at 30 days. <\/p>\n

Mr Bowen on Sunday said fuel rationing was not expected in the short term.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Fuel Emergency Act of 1984 has never been invoked \u2014 not through the first two Gulf Wars or Covid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not designed to be invoked lightly. It primarily has powers related to defence and health, in the first instance, to ensure that those key areas are getting the diesel that they need, but also other forms of fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained that any decision to trigger the act would require strong advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t exercise those quite remarkable powers unless I had pretty strong advice that it was necessary in the circumstances,\u201d Mr Bowen said.<\/p>\n

Mr Bowen said that invoking the act would also involve consultation with states and territories.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s something I would work through with the states. I\u2019m not envisaging needing that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pressure is mounting to allow Aussie employees to work from home as fallout from the Iran war and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-560261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}