Workers in Victoria already enjoy generous flexibility and don't need legislation to enshrine working from home arrangements.
Australian Industry Group Head of Victoria Tim Piper said employees needed to be careful about what they wished for, as a government survey revealed most support the state's plan to legislate the right to work from home two days a week.
"We've developed a really good system of working from home here in Victoria," he said.
"It's been working very well between all parties. Going further, as the Government is considering, is unnecessary."
Repercussions
Under the proposed laws, workers in both the public and private sectors who can reasonably do their job from home will have the right to do so for at least two days a week.
While the idea sounds appealing, there are risks to consider.
"It may not be good for the economy or for our jobs in two or three years' time," Mr Piper said.
"National employers have been telling us across the board that if they lose that flexibility, they may look elsewhere when they're deciding to employ people.
"If they're deciding to put on a new team, why wouldn't they do it in Sydney, Brisbane or Adelaide, rather than in Melbourne?
"During Covid, they were telling us if you can work from home, then maybe you can work from overseas.
"We have to be careful about what we wish for here. We don't want to have any of our jobs exported overseas. We want to be able to maintain them here in Victoria."
Flexibility works both ways
A strong economy means businesses need the flexibility to be able to have people in the office when needed, Mr Piper said.
"If you require somebody to be working in your office at a particular time — because you're employing them, you're paying them — you need to be able to ask them to do that," he added.
"This proposed legislation may not allow that to occur. Under those circumstances, employers lose the flexibility they need."
Productivity
Many employers say they don't feel people are as productive when they're working from home, Mr Piper said.
"Yes, they don't get interrupted, but they don't get the same interaction," he said.
"They don't get the opportunity to talk to younger people, to mentor them, to nurture the next round of people coming through the workforce.
"We need to make sure everybody benefits from this, not just those people who are thinking they can have an extra couple of days off.
"Not everybody uses the day well at home. Some people treat it as a bit of a lark.
"I know plenty of people who enjoy working from home and getting their chores done at the same time."
Government consultation
Mr Piper acknowledged the Government for consulting "fairly and reasonably" with Australian Industry Group.
"We've had the opportunity to consult with the most senior people within the Premier's office and in Industrial Relations Victoria to let them know our views," he said.
"I think the Government is hearing what we've got to say — that we would like them to consider other resolutions to this issue, rather than simply legislating: a solution that doesn't force a change of flexibility and doesn't force employers into a position contrary to what they would like.
"We want to work with the Government, but we don't want to be in a position where we're different from the rest of the nation."
Tim Piper is Head of Victoria at Australian Industry Group
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