Australians should have the legal right to work from home at least two days a week where it is practical and reasonable, according to federal Greens spokesperson for employment and workplace relations Senator Barbara Pocock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the new Greens policy, employers would be required to positively consider reasonable requests to work from home at least two days a week, provided working from home was not at odds with the inherent nature of a workers\u2019 role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flexible work arrangements, such as the ability to work from home, have enabled millions of workers, many of them women, to balance care responsibilities with paid work. Legislating the right to work from home, where it is sensible and doable, will not only protect women\u2019s access to the labour market and economic equality gains, it will also increase workforce participation and ultimately boost productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greens Leader and spokesperson on Women, Larissa Waters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Prime Minister supports Victorian Labor Premier Jacinta Allen\u2019s push for legislating work from home two days a week. Now he has a chance to work with the Greens in federal parliament to make this a reality for those Australians whose jobs it suits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know that for millions of Australians, especially women, the ability to work from home provides the flexibility they need to balance work with the other important things in their lives, including care. Many men are also looking for this flexibility, and it will help them be more involved in care responsibilities, and reduce commute time and cost for workers everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the same way that the Greens worked with Labor to establish the very successful Right to Disconnect, we want to work together to establish a reasonable right to work from home that will increase productivity and flexibility in workplaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGiven that most workers in Australia are covered by federal workplace law, it makes sense to create this right at the national level. We need a sensible, national approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Australian Greens spokesperson for employment and workplace relations, Senator Barbara Pocock:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWorking from home is not possible in all roles but where it is practical, workers should have a reasonable right to work from home for up to a couple of days a week. They should not be at risk of having that right arbitrarily removed when it is working in practical ways that boost productivity and help workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWomen shouldn\u2019t have to give up their careers to have a family. By improving work from home rights, we\u2019re protecting women\u2019s rights to work while caring for their families. This isn\u2019t just a win for women, workers and families, it\u2019s a win for our economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ability to work from home has many benefits<\/u><\/a>, not only for women and carers – it also reduces the time spent on commuting, improves work-life balance, increases emotional and physical wellbeing, and boosts workforce participation and productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Productivity Commission<\/u><\/a> has found that working from home not only reduces breaks and sick days, it can be less distracting than working on-site, which can lead to improved productivity. Similarly, OECD<\/u><\/a> research shows that working from home\u2014especially in hybrid models\u2014can boost productivity and employee well-being, provided businesses invest in digital tools and smart management practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Greens want to see real improvements in the conditions and rights of Australian workers that reflects the modern workplaces of 2025 and beyond. The Prime Minister has already acknowledged the benefits of working from home. Now he has an opportunity to work with the Greens to enshri<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Australians should have the legal right to work from home at least two days a week where it is practical and reasonable, according to federal Greens spokesperson for employment and workplace relations Senator Barbara Pocock. Under the new Greens policy, employers would be required to positively consider reasonable requests to work from home at least … Continue reading “Greens join Vic Labor\u2019s push for 2 day work from home: a productivity boon”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34386,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34385\/revisions\/34386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}