New work-from-home term to be added to Clerks Award

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home and hybrid working have increasingly become the norm for many traditionally office-based professions.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows 37% of employees regularly work from home, which is up 5% from pre-pandemic levels.

For the most part, both employers and employees have seen the benefits of flexible work arrangements. For employees, it’s improved work-life balance, initiated “tree-changes” (moving from urban to regional areas), and freed up time otherwise spent on commutes. For employers, it offers access to a broader talent pool, helps reduce office overheads, and provides a benefit that employees value, boosting recruitment and retention.

But the remote work trend is not without its tensions. Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen a decrease in the number of workers working in a hybrid capacity, with companies implementing return-to-office mandates and going to great lengths to make the workplace more attractive to their workers.

Mining firm Mineral Resources recently made headlines when its managing director announced they had banned working from home, stating that the industry could not afford flexible working and that the firm had invested significantly in amenities at their head office, including cafes, gyms and a creche, to make it more attractive to their workers.

Legally, there has been some beefing up of employment legislation around working from home, with expanded rights for employees to request flexible work arrangements and the right to disconnect. But Australian workers currently have no legal right to work from home.

Now, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has announced that it will develop a new working-from-home term to be included in the Clerks - Private Sector Award that supports employers and employees making ‘workable’ work-from-home arrangements. 

This move follows the Modern Award Review 2023-24, which identified the Clerks Award as the award covering workers most likely to regularly work from home (the FWC estimates about 41.4% of clerical and administrative employees regularly work from home versus 31.5% of all other occupations).

The new term will likely clarify certain elements of work-from-home arrangements, such as:

• Defining remote work.
• Providing expanded ordinary hours for employees working remotely.
• Giving employees the right to work hours non-continuously.
• Providing flexibility around taking breaks.
• Granting a right for employees to request work-from-home arrangements coupled with a specification of when the request can be refused by the employer.

Once made, the new work-from-home term is likely to serve as a model clause to be included in other awards.

What's next?

The FWC has started hearing submissions from interested parties on what it should consider when deciding if a working-from home provision in the Clerks Award is a good idea, and, if so, what should be dealt with in the provision, i.e. how it will interact with other provisions, such as ordinary hours, overtime, right to disconnect, breaks etc.

This process is expected to conclude in March 2025.

To find out more and participate in the process, visit the Fair Work Commission website.