Key Points
- The number of hours Australian employees worked from home reduced from 43 per cent in March to 26 per cent in September: New Study
- Associate Professor Dr Mohan Thite says managers want employees to work more often from the office
- A Senate committee recommends a law that gives employees the "right to disconnect from work"
A recent showed a hybrid work pattern, with some days in the office and others at home, has become the norm in Australia with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
It said employees in most occupations worked less from home (WFH) in September compared with March this year.
The total working hours for WFH reduced from 43 per cent in March to 26 per cent in September.
South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory/Tasmania and the Northern Territory recorded the sharpest decline in WFH by 53 per cent, 48 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.
Professor David Hensher, Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney Business School, said these findings align with what looks like the "new normal" in terms of hybrid working.
"We are starting to see some signs of stabilising hybrid work patterns,” Professor Hensher said.
New South Wales and Victoria had the highest WFH proportion at 31.4 per cent and 28.9 per cent in September. Credit: Morsa Images/Getty Images
"Managers want workers to come back and interact with other employees. But, at the same time, they fear losing control over the workers if they worked more from home," Dr Thite told SBS.
"But the research shows that productivity does not decrease working from home or remotely. In fact, in many cases, productivity has actually increased."
How to maintain work-life balance
Some employees are finding it increasingly difficult to work more from the office as they got used to working from home and saved on commuting time during the lockdowns.
Dr James Donald, a senior Senior Lecturer in the Work and Organisational Studies discipline at the University of Sydney, said employees should have honest and direct conversations with their managers.
"For some organisations, that's not possible. They mandate that employees work three days a week in the office, but not every company has that," Dr Donald said.
"And even if companies have policies on this, there's often some flexibility within that framework," he added.
Employees shouldn't underestimate their capacity to negotiate with their manager if they can make a case that they can be more efficient and support their mental health and wellbeing while working more from home
Dr Donald said employers are most likely to listen as it's a tight labour market.
"Most managers within companies ultimately want to get the best out of their people. And so, this is a lever an employee can pull," he said.
"Where there's a potential win-win, but a lot of employees don't feel comfortable or confident initiating that conversation. You're not going to get fired for having that conversation."
Negative impacts of completely working from home
Dr Thite said that while he advocates working from home, there are some negative impacts of working entirely from home as well.
"There are psychological issues like isolation and inability to interact with others. There's a pressure to maintain balance, like how to be calm and focused when surrounded by family," Dr Thite said.
Dr Thite said employees need to realise that it is to their personal and professional benefit that they also work from the office.
"First of all, breathe fresh air and interact with people. Today's economy is driven by innovation and creativity, and to let your innovation and creativity flourish, you got to interact with other people," Dr Thite said.
It is a collaborative effort. So teamwork is an essential part of the knowledge to work today. Therefore it is equally in the interest of employees that they work at least a few days a week from the office.
Dr Donald said working from home must be managed carefully by the company.
"It depends on the company and its policies around supporting their staff in terms of workload and encouraging them not to respond outside of standard work hours," he said.
"It's about promoting and creating a culture where people feel safe."
Right to disconnect
A senate select committee on Work and Care last month advised the Australian government to consider a law that gives employees the "right to disconnect from work".
"The pandemic has seen a growing number of workers working from home, and this has changed the lives of many workers," the committee said.
The committee said while the new patterns have been productive and saved many households commuting time, they weakened the boundaries around working hours and increased working time.
According to the committee, the right to disconnect should:
- Enable and support productive work from home and flexibility of work.
- Protect the right of workers to disconnect from their job outside of contracted hours and enforce this right with their employer.
- Place a positive duty on employers to reasonably accommodate the right wherever possible.
- Allow employees to appeal to the Fair Work Commission where employers are not enacting the right.
A Similar right already exist in some European countries.
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