A new home-working clause in Australia’s Clerks—Private Sector Award began applying on October 26, giving covered employees a formal route to request remote-work arrangements.
The clause does not create an automatic entitlement to work from home. An employee may make a written request specifying the days, number, proportion or pattern of days proposed, and the employer remains free to agree or decline. The request itself is a protected workplace right, however, which means adverse action cannot lawfully be taken because an employee used the process.
Where the parties agree, they must record the arrangement in writing. The document must identify the approved location, the working pattern, the start date, any award terms modified by agreement and how the arrangement may later be varied or ended. Employers must retain the record and give a copy to the employee.
The clause also permits agreed adjustments to specified rules concerning ordinary hours, rest breaks and meal breaks. It operates alongside, rather than replacing, the separate statutory right of eligible workers to seek flexible arrangements under the National Employment Standards.
The new provision applies from the first full pay period beginning on or after October 26. That timing means employees on different payroll cycles may become covered on different dates. Disputes that cannot be resolved at workplace level may be taken to the Fair Work Commission under the award’s dispute-resolution process.
