During Covid, large numbers of employees in Australia began working from home. After the pandemic ended, more and more businesses continued to use hybrid work models, allowing employees to alternate between working in the office and remotely.
This way of working is now very common, but not every employer is willing to accept remote work. Some employers are concerned that having employees outside the office will affect communication, management and productivity.
If an employee requests to work from home and their employer refuses, can they take the complaint further or apply to the Fair Work Commission?
Yes, provided certain legal conditions are met.
Do employees have the right to request to work from home?
Under section 65 of the Fair Work Act 2009, eligible employees can submit a written request to their employer for a flexible working arrangement.
These arrangements are not limited to working from home. They can also include changes to working hours, location or the way work is performed.
Common circumstances in which employees may qualify include pregnancy, caring for young children or family members, having a disability, being aged 55 or more, experiencing family violence, or needing to help a family member deal with family violence.
Non-casual employees generally need to have worked continuously for the same employer for at least 12 months. Casual employees who meet the relevant conditions may also make a request.
Westpac employee successfully challenges refusal of a request to work from home
One illustrative case concerns Chandler, an employee who had worked in Westpac’s lending department for 23 years.
She lives in Wilton, approximately 80 kilometres from Sydney’s CBD, and also needs to care for two school-aged children. In January 2025, she asked Westpac to allow her to continue working from home or to work at a branch near her home two days a week.
Westpac refused her request, arguing that face-to-face communication was better for work and that working from home was not a substitute for her responsibility to care for her children.
Chandler then took her complaint to the Fair Work Commission.
The FWC found that Westpac had not provided sufficient reasonable business grounds to support its refusal. Chandler had previously worked from home for an extended period without any evident adverse effect on her performance. The bank’s arguments, such as that face-to-face communication was more effective, also lacked sufficiently specific supporting evidence.
This case shows that an employer refusing a flexible working arrangement cannot rely solely on general or subjective reasons. It needs to explain why the arrangement would affect its business in practice.
Once a flexible working arrangement is approved, the agreed terms must still be followed
Employees do not succeed in every flexible work dispute.
For example, Kelly Foster successfully requested a flexible working arrangement from National Australia Bank. However, after it was implemented, she did not comply with the agreed attendance requirements, and the bank subsequently ended the arrangement.
The FWC found that this did not amount to an employer refusing a request: the request had initially been approved, and ending the arrangement later because of implementation issues was a different matter.
Employees must therefore continue to comply with the agreed attendance and work requirements after a flexible working arrangement has been approved.
How do you request a flexible working arrangement?
Eligible employees should submit a written request to their employer, clearly explaining the changes they want to their working arrangements and the reasons for their request.
When requesting to work from home, employees can specify how many days a week they would like to do so, whether they are willing to return to the office for part of the time, and how the arrangement would help them manage their family or personal circumstances.
A more specific request generally helps both parties discuss workable arrangements.
How must the employer respond?
Under section 65A of the Fair Work Act 2009, an employer generally needs to respond in writing within 21 days of receiving a valid request.
If the employer intends to refuse the request, it cannot simply reply that it is not approved.
Before refusing, the employer needs to discuss the request with the employee and try to establish whether agreement can be reached in another way. It also needs to consider the adverse effects that refusal may have on the employee and explain its reasonable business grounds in the written response.
What counts as reasonable business grounds?
Reasonable business grounds need to relate to the actual working circumstances.
For example, the new arrangement may be too costly, it may be difficult to reorganise other employees’ work, it may not be possible to reasonably recruit replacement staff, or the arrangement may seriously affect productivity, customer service or business operations.
These grounds must, however, be specific and explain the practical impact.
Simply saying that management prefers employees to be in the office or that face-to-face work is more efficient may not be enough to support a refusal without further factual evidence.
What else can an employee do if the employer refuses the request?
If the parties cannot resolve a dispute over a flexible working arrangement, they can take it further through the Fair Work Commission.
Employees should try to retain their original request, the employer’s written response, emails between the parties and meeting records.
These documents may become important evidence in determining whether the employer handled the request in accordance with the legal requirements.
Not every employee has an automatic right to work from home
It is particularly important to understand that the Fair Work Act does not give all employees a general right to work from home whenever they wish.
The law provides a right to request a flexible working arrangement when certain conditions are met, and a right to have the employer properly consider the request in accordance with the prescribed procedure.
Whether an employee can ultimately work from home still depends on their eligibility to make the request, the nature of the work, the employer’s business grounds and whether other workable arrangements are available.
NS Legal’s closing remarks
Hybrid work has become a common model in many Australian businesses, but working from home is not something that employees or employers can decide entirely as they please.
For employees who meet the conditions under the Fair Work Act 2009, the law allows requests for flexible working arrangements. It also requires employers to follow the prescribed procedure and provide reasonable, specific business grounds when refusing a request.
If your request for a flexible working arrangement has been refused, or you are already in a dispute with your employer over working from home, attendance requirements or other flexible working arrangements, you can first check whether the request and response meet the legal requirements before deciding whether further action is needed.
The NS Legal team can assist employees and employers in reviewing requests and responses concerning flexible working arrangements and provide legal advice on subsequent workplace disputes.
Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information only and does not constitute legal advice about the specific circumstances of any individual or business.
