Protecting work from home

We’re protecting work from home, saving Victorian families time and money.

For busy families, saving time and money matters. Working from home gives people both, and the Allan Labor Government is moving to protect it in law.

Labor is making working from home a legal right your boss can't refuse.

If you can reasonably do your job from home, you’ll have the right to do so at least two days a week, whether you work in the public or private sector. That means fewer forced commutes, more time with family, and real cost-of-living relief.

Working from home puts money back in family budgets. Victorians save around $110 a week – more than $5,300 a year – on transport, fuel, parking, lunches and childcare logistics. It also gives families back over three hours a week by cutting long commutes - time that’s better spent with kids, caring for loved ones, or simply getting life done.

It also helps more people work. Working from home supports parents, carers and people with disability to stay in the workforce, lifting participation by 4.4 per cent compared with before the pandemic. 

It’s good for business too. People working from home log nearly 20% more hours, are more productive, and are more likely to stay in their jobs.

Victorians want this protected. A record 36,000+ Victorians responded to the Government’s consultation, with three in four saying the right to work from home is extremely important to them. Too many workers have been refused reasonable requests, and too many families are paying the price.

That’s why Labor is acting. Enshrining working from home in law means families won’t have to ask for flexibility – it will be a right.

Because working from home works for busy families, and the Allan Labor Government will make sure it’s protected.