Fair Work Amendment (Right to Work from Home) Bill 2025

# Fair Work Amendment (Right to Work from Home) Bill 2025 ## What it does This bill gives employees a legal right to request working from home up to 2 days per week, with stronger protections than current arrangements. Employers can only refuse if working from home would make the job impossible or impractical—not just because they'd prefer everyone in the office. The changes sit within the existing Fair Work Act framework, updating the rules for flexible work requests. ## Why it matters Post-pandemic, many Australians want flexibility but currently have limited legal backing when employers say no. This creates a clearer standard: employers can't turn down WFH requests based on vague business reasons if the job can genuinely be done remotely. For workers, it's about having a formal right rather than begging permission; for employers, it sets consistent rules rather than dealing with ad-hoc requests. ## Key details - **The 2-day threshold**: The bill specifically protects requests for "up to 2 days" of work from home per week—this gets a tighter legal standard than other flexible work requests - **When it starts**: The changes take effect the day after the bill receives Royal Assent (formal approval) - **The refusal test**: Employers must have engaged "genuinely" with the employee about the request and can only refuse on grounds that the job becomes "impractical or impossible"—removing wiggle room for blanket "no remote work" policies