Victorian workers could gain a legal right to work from home two days a week under legislation the state government plans to introduce later this year.
Premier Jacinta Allan will confirm that the policy will be written into Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act, with legislation scheduled to be introduced to parliament in July. If approved, the changes are expected to take effect on 1 September.
The proposal would allow employees whose roles can reasonably be performed remotely to work from home for up to two days each week. It would apply to both public and private sector workers.
The government intends to frame the change through anti-discrimination law by making it unlawful to treat employees unfavourably for working from home two days per week.
The Equal Opportunity Act, first introduced in 2010, currently prohibits discrimination based on attributes such as age, race, sex and disability.
The policy would not apply to occupations where the nature of the work prevents remote work.
Victoria transferred most industrial relations powers covering private sector workers to the federal government years ago, creating uncertainty about how work-from-home rights could be enforced through workplace law.
The work-from-home proposal has become a central element of the Victorian Labor government’s campaign ahead of the state election in November.
Allan said the government intended to protect flexible work arrangements through legislation.
“Only Labor has new solutions to make life easier, safer and more affordable. That’s why we will protect work from home in law from 1 September,” she said.
