Jacinta Allan says planned work-from-home law would affect all Victorian businesses | Victorian politics
All employers will be affected by the Victorian government’s plan to legislate the right to work from home two days a week, and Jacinta Allan confirms there will be no exemptions for small businesses.
It comes as the cabinet meets on Monday to greenlight the plan, which is a key pillar of Labour’s re-election campaign, with further announcements expected during the parliamentary session week.
On Tuesday, the prime minister planned to confirm that all businesses, regardless of size, would be covered by the laws once adopted.
This marks a departure from Allan’s comments last year, when he said the government would do so. Consider an exemption for small businesses.
Allan said the government had held extensive consultations with businesses and decided it was a matter of “fairness” to apply the policy to all employers. He said although many large companies and organizations already offered flexibility, such arrangements were less common in small businesses, which employ about 1.3 million Victorians.
“If you can work from home for a small business, you deserve the same rights as someone who works for a large bank,” Allan said.
Last year the prime minister announced his government would allow those who can “reasonably” do so to work from home two days a week.
He said the legal right would apply to both public and private sector employees. But given that Victoria, like other states, devolved industrial relations powers to the state years ago, it remains unclear how this will be implemented.
It was a move designed to clamp down on state opposition after the issue became a flashpoint in the 2025 federal election campaign; Peter Dutton has backtracked on his policy of restricting public servants from working from home arrangements due to backlash.
Business groups have strongly criticized the Victorian plan, arguing that working from home arrangements are best achieved by employers and employees. This includes the Council of Small Business Organizations of Australia. In that case He said the policy was “yet another example of the Victorian government crushing small businesses without proper consultation”.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Victoria’s economy, employing millions of Victorians, but once again we have been completely excluded from the development of workplace policy that will fundamentally impact the way we work,” said Chairman Matthew Addison.
The group had called on the government to consider exemptions for businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees due to potential negative impacts.
Allan’s statement stated that working from home increases workforce participation, saves families money and reduces congestion.
“It saves time and money and puts more parents to work,” he said.
“Not everyone can work from home, but everyone can benefit.”
Opposition leader Jess Wilson refused to offer a view on the policy at a business event last week but said the Liberal party had a “long-standing track record” of “supporting flexible working”.
“I fully understand that working from home is here to stay. So if the prime minister wants to put forward a proposal, we’ll look at that,” he said.
“But right now, highlighting this is the priority.”
