Two-thirds of voters want the right to work from home protected
By Paul Sakkal
About two-thirds of voters support proposals for a new right to work from home and a four-day work week, including most Coalition supporters, proving the political upside for Labor governments and unions advancing the ideas of contested economic benefit.
Union leaders put up the idea of a four-day work week before Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ economic reform summit this week, and Victorian Labor Premier Jacinta Allan rekindled debate by pledging to give workers the guaranteed ability to work two days a week from home.
Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil and secretary Sally McManus.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
On the eve of the roundtable, Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood dismissed the need for government intervention in flexible work, suggesting bosses and workers were finding a “sweet spot” on hybrid work.
But the Resolve Political Monitor showed widespread support for both ideas.
Sixty-four per cent said they backed the idea of using legislation to lock in flexible work arrangements. Nineteen per cent were unsure when asked about the proposal, while 17 per cent were opposed.
Of Labor voters, 74 per cent backed the idea, as did 51 per cent of Coalition voters, a reminder of why former opposition leader Peter Dutton was forced to ditch his pre-election push to force public servants back into the office.
The Coalition proposal was pounced on by Labor, which used Dutton’s public sector policy to stoke fears that private sector workers would also be ordered back to the office full-time.
Allan’s pitch to legislate the right to two days working from home was built on the successful political campaign against Dutton’s plan. The Resolve survey showed 89 per cent of those who currently work from home supported Allan’s idea. Just under two-thirds of those who never worked from home also backed it.
Victoria ceded its lawmaking powers on workplace affairs decades ago, raising questions about whether Allan’s proposal was realistic.
Matt GoldingCredit:
But Resolve director Jim Reed said it was clear that workers liked the general idea of more flexible work, which research suggests could boost productivity.
“Formalising work arrangements that some enjoy, like working from home or shorter weeks, gets a pretty warm reception,” Reed said.
“But we’ve got to remember that this is a gut reaction, before people have considered this in the context of trade-offs or broader productivity.”
The four-day work week was put onto the roundtable agenda by the Australian Council of Trade Unions last week. It cited two studies showing companies performed better when they allowed three-day weekends. But economist Richard Holden rubbished the idea and described the studies in an opinion piece for The Australian Financial Review as “seriously flawed”.
“They lend zero weight to the idea that introducing a four-day work week would maintain (let alone boost) productivity, or even increase the wellbeing of workers,” he wrote.
Total support for a four-day work week was recorded at 66 per cent, while 21 per cent were unsure and just 13 per cent were against. Respondents were asked if they would work four days a week on the same pay if they were forced to complete the same amount of work.
More than double the number of Coalition voters supported the shortened work week (54 per cent) than those who said they did not like it (22 per cent).
The questions on workplace affairs do not mention how such policies might affect firms’ profitability and productivity. But the high level of support for flexible work suggests these industrial reforms will remain a talking point.
Australians work about 32 hours per week on average, according to the International Labour Organisation – slightly fewer than comparable nations such as Canada and New Zealand. However, workers have received a diminishing share of productivity gains through higher wages since the 1980s, with more wealth transferring to business profits.
Last term, Labor passed laws that gave employees more scope to request flexible work under the Fair Work Act. Business groups opposed any new laws that would bolster workers’ rights to work from home, but the Australian Services Union, which represents clerical workers, is pushing for rules that would force employers to give employees six months’ notice before mandating a return to the office.
The Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox called the union’s idea “loopy”.
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