Victorian employees will only need to attend the office 3 days a week

The Victorian Government has proposed amendments to the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) (EO Act) to require Victorian employers to allow eligible Victorian employees to work from home (WFH) and to oblige the employer to cover any reasonable costs associated with the WFH arrangements, including essential equipment (such as hardware and software) and secure access to the employer's information systems.

If passed, the new law will commence on 1 September 2026, or on 1 July 2027 for small businesses with fewer than 15 employees.

Who is eligible?

Eligible full-time employees will be allowed to WFH 2 days a week. A pro rata entitlement will apply for part-time and casual employees, with the method for calculating the pro rata entitlement to be set out in the regulations.

All Victorian employees will be eligible for a WFH right, except for the following:

Employees on probation. This is not yet defined, and presumably could apply to employees subject to probationary periods longer than the typical periods of 3 or 6 months.
Apprentices, trainees, interns and participants in a graduate program, on work experience or similar program.
Gig workers and sole traders.
Irregular casuals.
Employees who are eligible to request flexible work arrangements under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) and wish to do so. This applies to employees subject to the FW Act who have at least 12 months’ service and seek a WFH arrangement because they are pregnant, have parental responsibilities for a school-aged or younger child, are a carer, have a disability, are aged 55 or older, are experiencing family and domestic violence, or provide care or support to an immediate family or household member experiencing family and domestic violence.

If an employer considers 2 days of WFH unreasonable, they must still allow the employee to WFH to the extent that is ‘reasonable’.

What is ‘reasonable’?

What is reasonable depends on a range of factors, including whether:

the inherent requirements of the employee’s role require their regular attendance at the workplace, including to use on-site equipment or to interact with members of the public, clients or customers;
WFH would cause a significant decrease in productivity or efficiency;
WFH would have an adverse impact on safety;
WFH would have a significant impact on supervision, training or professional development;
WFH would have a significant impact on the capacity to build relationships between stakeholders, clients or customers;
WFH would have a significant impact on customer service;
WFH would impose excessive financial costs on the employer;
WFH would require the employer to make changes to the working arrangements that are impractical; or
WFH would require the employer to make new hirings that are impractical.

What are the requirements?

An employee must submit WFH requests to their employer in writing. Unless it is not practicable to do so, the notice must specify:

the days and any specific times the employee intends to WFH; and
the location, if the employee intends to work from a place other than their private residence.

The employer must respond to the notice within 21 days. The response must state whether the request is considered reasonable and, if not, whether the employer will allow the employee to WFH on an alternative basis.

How will disputes be dealt with?

Disputes about WFH rights will be dealt with in the same way as other complaints and disputes arising under the EO Act. This means employees can raise disputes in:

the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, which can only conciliate; or
the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which can conciliate and make determinations to resolve the dispute.

Costs cannot be awarded to parties to these proceedings unless in exceptional circumstances.

If an employee disputes their employer’s refusal of their WFH right, the employee will have to abide by the lawful and reasonable directions of their employer regarding place of work until the dispute is resolved. However, the employee could make an application for an interim order permitting WFH pending resolution of the dispute.

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