{"id":743153,"date":"2026-06-17T22:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/743153\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T22:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:14:14","slug":"work-from-home-laws-new-victorian-legislation-gives-employees-the-right-to-work-remotely-two-days-a-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/743153\/","title":{"rendered":"Work from home laws: New Victorian legislation gives employees the right to work remotely two days a week"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Employers trying to stop staff working from home will need to prove it has a \u201csignificant\u201d negative impact on business or is incompatible with their role under new laws introduced to parliament.<\/p>\n

Businesses will also need to buy equipment for workers\u2019 home offices and could be ordered to pay compensation for unfairly denying them the right to work remotely two days a week.<\/p>\n

\"EmployersEmployers would have to pay for equipment so staff can work from home under the laws. Louise Kennerley<\/p>\n

The legislation establishes the right to work from home for certain employees<\/a>, in what Premier Jacinta Allan says is a landmark improvement in conditions for working people.<\/p>\n

Big business groups have blasted the laws as an unnecessary intervention, given most workplaces already allow working from home where it is practical. Some industrial relations lawyers predict an avalanche of legal disputes<\/a> over what jobs can reasonably be done remotely.<\/p>\n

A full version of the laws, released on Wednesday, spells out a strict test bosses will have to apply in deciding whether they can stop an employee from spending two days a week at home, or a pro rata equivalent for part-timers.<\/p>\n

Workers will need to notify their employer in writing that they intend to start working from home. Employers must respond within 21 days and can only refuse or limit flexible work if it is \u201cnot reasonable\u201d.<\/p>\n

The \u201cnot reasonable\u201d decision must be based on specific considerations, including the \u201cinherent requirements\u201d of the role, such as access to equipment or face-to-face interaction with customers.<\/p>\n

Other grounds to refuse are:<\/p>\n

A \u201csignificant\u201d decrease in productivity or efficiencyA \u201csignificant\u201d adverse impact on supervision, training, customer service and the \u201ccapacity to build relationships\u201d with stakeholders such as clientsAn \u201cexcessive\u201d financial cost on the employerAn adverse impact on any person\u2019s safetyThat it would require the employer to make impractical changes to working arrangements or hire new staff\"TheThe work from home legislation is a key plank of Premier Jacinta Allan\u2019s pitch to working families struggling with cost-of-living.Ruby Alexander<\/p>\n

Employers will also have to pay \u201creasonable costs\u201d for equipment so workers can do their job from home.<\/p>\n

Workers on probation, or on apprenticeship, traineeship or graduate programs are not eligible to work from home under the laws. Casual employees will qualify<\/a> if they work on a \u201cregular and systematic basis\u201d.<\/p>\n

Workers will be able to take their employer to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) for conciliation over work-from-home disputes, and then to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if not resolved.<\/p>\n

Employees already have the right under the federal Fair Work Act to request flexible working arrangements to accommodate specific needs, such as caring for children or having a disability<\/a>, and employers can only refuse on \u201creasonable\u201d business grounds.<\/p>\n

Natalie Gaspar, an employment partner at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, said the Victorian laws significantly strengthened workers\u2019 ability to secure work-from-home arrangements by making it a default right and setting a high bar for employers to refuse it.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Victorian<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of that language \u2013 significant adverse impact, significant decrease in productivity \u2013 is deliberate. It demonstrates the intention to set the bar really high,\u201d Gaspar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is some productivity decrease, if there is some impact on customer relationships or productivity, that is not a basis [for refusal]. That must be \u2018significant\u2019. That\u2019s quite an important and stark point.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Gaspar said workers and employers would still disagree over what constituted a \u201csignificant\u201d impact, and many of these disputes would end up in VCAT.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be some helpful guidance for employers that will come out of the early cases dealing with this, but it is a brave new world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Gaspar said VCAT could ultimately order an employer who had unreasonably refused working from home rights to pay compensation to workers for transport costs or other expenses incurred coming into their workplace every day.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the November state election, the working from home laws are a centrepiece of Allan\u2019s pitch to working Victorians straining under the skyrocketing cost-of-living and being tempted by the right-wing populism of One Nation.<\/a><\/p>\n

The government claims families can save time and up to $5000 a year in transport costs by working from home two days a week, but that some employers are unreasonably refusing flexible work.<\/p>\n

While VEOHRC and VCAT are already struggling to clear their existing case loads, Holding Redlich workplace partner Charles Power said that under the legislation, workers could seek interim orders from the tribunal permitting them to work from home while the matter is resolved.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Pauline<\/a><\/p>\n

That, along with the fact that there is no cost to launch action in VCAT, could make it easier for workers to challenge their bosses\u2019 decisions than it is under existing workplace laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe VCAT workload is set for an increase,\u201d Power said.<\/p>\n

The Coalition has not indicated if it will support the laws, which will be debated when Parliament returns from its winter break in late July.<\/p>\n

If passed, they would come into effect on September 1, however businesses with fewer than 15 employees will have until July 2027 to comply.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"PatrickPatrick Hatch<\/a> is transport reporter at The Age and a former business reporter.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":743154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-743153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743153","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=743153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/743154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}