Government “bottled” remote working laws says Sherlock
Mike Finnerty 29 Oct 2024
Labour Senator Marie Sherlock has said that stronger laws on flexible and remote work are needed.
A recent poll by Red C on mandatory return to office found that a majority of those polled believe that their flexible and remote working rights are under threat by major employers.
Sherlock noted that women workers are those who are most concerned about the mandatory return to office.
“Flexible and remote work arrangements have been a game-changer for workers with other care responsibilities in their lives, workers who commute long distance, and for the thousands who have had to relocate out of the main urban centres because of the exorbitant cost of living.”
She said that the Government will use the WRC Code Of Practice as an example of how they attempted to tackle the issue, but Sherlock said “the reality is they bottled the opportunity to give workers real rights.”
The WRC Code Of Practice was signed in March, which Sherlock said was “watered down.”
“While the WRC Code of Practice is in place since March this year, already there has been a significant number of complaints to the WRC about refusals for flexible and remote working arrangements,” she stated.
“Workers who contest an employer’s decision will find that the Code makes no provision to appeal the grounds of the employer decision.”
“Once an employer says it is in their business interests, workers won’t have a leg to stand on.”
She said that commuters are excluded from a right to flexible work, which “flies in the face of any objective to reduce congestion at peak hours in our main urban centres.”
“Ultimately, workers in unionised workplaces will have the benefit of their trade union to fight their corner, but there are workers in big companies here who are hostile to trade unions and we believe a basic right to flexible work should be there for all workers.”
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