WA Premier Roger Cook has ruled out legislating mandatory work from home provisions as business groups warned Victoria’s move to enact such laws will drive businesses to other states.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan last week outlined plans to enshrine working from home rights into law next year before the next state election. 
As reported by the ABC, Allan told the Victorian Labor State Conference the Government planned to develop legal protections for workers who want to work from home at least two days a week.
The laws, if passed, would be an Australia-first. The Federal Government has indicated it would not intervene in Victoria’s plan.
However, business groups have slammed the idea, warning it would impact productivity and ultimately drive businesses to other states.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Paul Guerra claimed businesses would move interstate and jobs would be lost if Victoria moved away from the legislated national system.
“(Work from home) certainly works well in some contexts, but that should be determined by the employer in consultation with the employee,” he said.
WA ‘won’t follow Victoria’
Premier Cook said WA would not follow Victoria in legislating the right for employees to work from home.
He said while WA employees were entitled under state laws to flexible workplace arrangements, his government had no plans to mandate work-from-home requirements.
“We know that in Victoria, there’s a much bigger culture in relation to working from home, because that was a fact of their life during COVID,” he said.
“It didn’t become a fact of life for Western Australian workers because of the way we managed our COVID-19 arrangements. WA workers, by and large, stayed in the workplace.”
Cook was reported as saying that while flexible working arrangements were a fact of life in modern workplaces, states also had to ensure they had a productive workforce.
“I’m going to leave it up to the workers and their managers to work in partnership to understand what are the best arrangements for their workplace,” he said.
Flexible work ‘matter for employers, staff
CCIWA Acting co-CEO Aaron Morey said: “Flexible work arrangements are a matter for employers and their staff, so we’re pleased to hear WA has no plans to follow Victoria’s lead on this.
“Victoria’s push to enshrine work-from-home in legislation could have an upside for WA, given the likelihood that businesses will be looking elsewhere to set up shop.”
Before making any changes to staffing arrangements, we recommend you call CCIWA’s Employee Relations Helpline on 08 9365 7660, or email [email protected].
