Down to business: Carroll leaves door open to WFH changes

Victorian business chiefs are urging new Premier Ben Carroll to scrap Labor’s work-from-home laws to deliver on his pledge to partner more closely with the private sector.In his first full day in the top job, Carroll did not rule out reviewing the legislation, which infuriated industry leaders when it was announced by his predecessor Jacinta Allan last year.Premier Ben Carroll did not rule out making changes to Labor’s work-from-home law during a press conference at Kmart. Justin McManusThe business community also wants Carroll to ease the payroll tax burden on employers, after he announced his intention on Tuesday to be more pro-business than Allan.He said that although Labor would always represent working people, he wanted the state to be “the best place to invest and a place where Victorians want to start a business”.Carroll leant in to his origin story on Wednesday by holding his second press conference as the state’s premier at a Kmart in Melbourne’s CBD to tout measures to combat retail crime.Carroll worked at the discount retailer for eight years, starting when he was 14, which he regularly references and later earned him the moniker “Kmart Keating”.While his announcement of workplace protection orders to crack down on retail violence was well received by trade unions, the new premier faced two other immediate headaches from the labour movement, as public hospital doctors voted to take industrial action and elements of the public school teachers’ union agitated for a third statewide strike next week.Carroll’s ascension was welcomed by former premier Daniel Andrews, who backed him to win November’s state election as he congratulated Allan on her premiership. Fellow ex-Labor premier Steve Bracks praised Carroll’s “fresh approach to government”, saying Allan should have called a royal commission into construction corruption and had “no option but to resign”.The government’s work-from-home legislation, which was debated in parliament on Wednesday, would give employees a legal right to work from home. Employers would also have to pay “reasonable costs” for equipment to enable their staff to work remotely.“That legislation is before the parliament and I have nothing to answer or say on that today,” Carroll said, as he declined to rule out reviewing the bill.New premier Ben Carroll in parliament on Wednesday.Justin McManus“Work from home is good for families, and it is good for workers.”Two Labor sources, speaking anonymously to detail private conversations, said they did not believe Carroll would back away from the work-from-home laws entirely given their popularity.If any changes were made to the bill before parliament, they said, it could include some carve-outs for small businesses and adjusting the requirement to cover the cost of home offices.The legislation is currently before the lower house, with the debate to conclude by 5pm on Thursday. This would send it to the upper house, where amendments can be made in time to be debated in the next parliamentary sitting week from August 11.Allan’s relationship with the business community deteriorated as employers became frustrated with their share of the state’s tax burden, ballooning state debt, and the lack of consultation on Labor’s work from home policy.At the end of 2024, Allan attempted to reinvent herself as a more business-friendly leader and released an economic growth statement outlining her plan to boost the private sector. She also established a Premier’s Business Council, but The Age revealed last month that it met only four times since it was created more than 18 months ago.Businesses want Carroll to prioritise improving the state’s finances, crack down on crime and corruption, reduce taxes and most of all, said Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Sally Curtain, “stop this crazy work-from-home right legislation”.“Businesses are best placed to have the relationship with their employees, we don’t need this government overreach,” she said.Curtain said most businesses had good flexible working arrangements, and she was hopeful Carroll would scrap the work-from-home policy, which will come into effect in September if passed by parliament.“Our concern, for 12 months since this was announced, is that this is the poison pill for jobs: essentially businesses are taking their employment elsewhere.”ABS data released last week revealed Victoria had the highest unemployment rate in the country at 5.1 per cent, above the national average of 4.4 per cent.Bunnings managing director, Mike Schneider, a member of the Premier’s Business Council, said a more business-friendly approach from the new premier would be welcome.Bunnings managing director Mike Schneider said Carroll should reconsider WFH laws. Trevor Collens“Victoria should be making it easier for businesses to invest, grow and employ people, and that means taking another look at the proposed work-from-home laws for larger employers and the payroll tax burden,” Schneider said.“Flexibility is important, but not every job can be done from home. Businesses need to be able to make practical decisions that work for their teams, customers and operations.”Cost of Living Minister Paul Edbrooke said the policy would give Victorians more time and money.“Without this law, working from home is only ever a favour granted today and taken away tomorrow,” he told parliament. “This bill turns that favour into a right.”The Coalition supports the right to work from home and will not oppose Labor’s bill, but they are seeking amendments to protect businesses. This includes capping the “reasonable costs” businesses pay employees to set up home offices at $1000 and not allowing workers to appeal a company’s ruling on their eligibility to work from home until January 1, 2027.“That ... will give employers time to understand the implications of the legislation, to put in place their policies and to work through with their employees how it will work,” Nationals leader Danny O’Brien said in parliament on Wednesday.Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece, another member of the Premier’s Business Council, said Carroll replacing Allan opened the door to both Labor and the Coalition revisiting their positions on working from home.“I do think there is a need to maybe have a review of how the current legislation is going to work because I’m hearing very clearly it’s not fit for purpose at the moment,” Reece told radio station 3AW on Wednesday.Ahmed Fahour – who was the chair of the Premier’s Business Council until he was quietly moved on and replaced by Allan herself – said the government had to rebuild business confidence.“A stronger private sector, safer communities and a competitive investment environment are the foundations for restoring Victoria as Australia’s leading state,” said Fahour, the chief executive of Gurner Group and former Australia Post boss.Carroll’s Kmart press conference was to announce that his government would introduce legislation for workplace protection orders, meaning violent or abusive customers could be banned from workplaces including retail, hospitality or public transport workplaces.“We are putting workers front and centre,” Carroll said.The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) representing retail workers has long pushed for the measure, particularly after a post-pandemic spike in retail crime amid a cost-of-living crunch. The Rail Tram and Bus Union and Transport Workers Union were also in attendance at Carroll’s announcement.Opposition Leader Jess Wilson later accused the premier of hypocrisy because Labor MPs voted against the Coalition’s legislation for similar orders. Labor does not typically vote for legislation from outside the government.“This just demonstrates that we have the same Labor operation underway,” she said.“[We] Might have a new leader, a new face, but this is the same corrupt government.”As the Education Minister, Carroll has been unable to land a pay deal with the state’s public school teachers. The left faction of the Australian Education Union’s Victorian branch met late on Wednesday afternoon to push for another strike.The militant faction is sticking to its demand of a 35 per cent pay increase over three years, backdated to January, and is flagging a third strike for August 4. They have called for rolling industrial action, but the precise details have yet to be decided.Fight the Crisis president Lucy Honan confirmed the faction’s meeting ahead of a wider AEU meeting on Friday.But the education department’s deputy secretary emailed state school principals warning them any action held next week would be considered unprotected industrial action.David Howes sent the letter on Wednesday warning the union needed to provide five working days’ notice before any stop-work action could be carried out. According to the letter, the department has not received any notification from the union about planned action.In a social media post, the union’s Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said the only authorised and protected actions were existing bans and limitations, which included unpaid overtime.Thousands of Victorian teachers and support staff walked off the job earlier this month as part of their campaign for better wages and conditions.Wayne Taylor“On Friday there is a meeting of the AEU joint primary and secondary council where we will decide … the next steps on the campaign including having more industrial action,” Mullaly said.On Wednesday, Victoria’s public hospital doctors also voted to take industrial action for the first time in 20 years in a push to secure better pay and safer workloads.Following almost a year of failed negotiations with the state government, 97 per cent of doctors who returned ballots voted to take protected industrial action. The action could include public awareness campaigns on t-shirts and posters, disruptions to administrative and billing processes, overtime bans, strikes and work stoppages.The union insists that patient safety will not be compromised. They are demanding a 30 per cent pay rise over four years.Stephanie Davies, the Australian Medical Association’s doctor in training subdivision chair, said doctors were taking the action to make hospitals safer for clinicians and patients.“We want to be doing what we trained to do - caring for our patients. But after a year of negotiations and repeated warnings about dangerous levels of fatigue, excessive workloads and workforce shortages, our members have made it clear that enough is enough,” she said.Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.From our partners