Premier Ben Carroll has been warned not to proceed with the government\u2019s controversial work from home laws, with business groups claiming the proposal will put jobs at risk.<\/p>\n
The work from home legislation would give all Victorians the right to work from home at least two days per week, provided their job can reasonably be done from home.<\/p>\n
However critics have warned the laws are not only unnecessary but harmful.<\/p>\n
The legislation was set to be debated in the Victorian upper house on Friday, but Mr Carroll hit pause late on Thursday, after an hour-long meeting with the heads of half a dozen business and employer associations.<\/p>\n
Mr Carroll has attempted to reset relations with the business community and has signalled his openness to amending the legislation.<\/p>\n
Victorian Congress of Employer Associations boss Tim Piper said the group had explained to the Premier that there was \u201cno middle ground\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has become a really important issue for business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis legislation should be scrapped altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Piper said all of the employer associations that formed part of the coalition had been told by their members \u2013 both large companies and small businesses \u2013 that the laws would cause harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach of them have got their own issues around this, and each of them finds that this legislation is going to be difficult. It’s going to create disputes, and it’s not going to be good for the economy,\u201d Mr Piper said.<\/p>\n
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Sally Curtin said they had heard hundreds of businesses tell them in the past week that they would take their investments elsewhere if the laws went through.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is terrible legislation. Victoria simply doesn’t need it,” she said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve spoken and engaged with another 1,000 of our members this week, and they’re telling us loud and clear that 60 per cent of them are going to take their investment elsewhere as a result of this legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis legislation is not worth the cost, the complexity, and the jobs (that) impact the young people in this state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe implore the government to abandon this legislation and instead focus on investment for this state to put up the open for business sign, and get Victoria more competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Property Council\u2019s Victorian executive director Kath Evans said she had heard \u201cloud and clear\u201d from the business community that the legislation would act as a wedge that will prevent businesses entering the state and creating the jobs Victoria needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very, very concerned about jobs for Victorians,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Keith Ryan from the Housing Industry Association for Victoria also said the bill was \u201cbad law\u201d that \u201ccan\u2019t be salvaged\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilders want to build. They want to be focused on building the homes that the Victorian government says they want built \u2013 800,000 in 10 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, they’re being asked to consider potentially even more restrictions, more controls, more red tape on how they employ people and run their businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need certainty. They need to know that they can actually have a future in Victoria. And bills like this do nothing to help small business or large business confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe law, the bill must be dropped. It has to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australian Retail Council chief executive Chris Rodwell added that the legislation was a solution for a problem that \u201cdoesn\u2019t exist\u201d.<\/p>\n
“Businesses are already giving work from home opportunities to their people; they don’t need the government to put a rulebook around it,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat this does effectively is it sucks the life out of business\u2026 especially small businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt adds a burden of compliance and costs that they don’t need.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to be focused on managing their business or growing their business; instead they’re lumbered with a burden of cost and compliance.”<\/p>\n
Mr Rodwell also questioned why this was being done in Victoria when no other state was considering it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo other state is doing this, and it’s for good reason. It doesn’t create a single job. It doesn’t support investment in a business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why would we go down this route in Victoria, especially for an economy that is so challenged at the moment?”<\/p>\n
Bran Black from the Business Council of Australia said the business sector was \u201cabsolutely united\u201d in opposing the legislation, declaring it was both unneeded and unwanted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already have Commonwealth legislation in this space. But more importantly, we also know that almost four in five Victorian businesses are already offering flexible working arrangements for their staff,\u201d Mr Black said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of it being unwanted, you’ve just got to look at the statistics. Victoria has led the country in unemployment for 18 of the last 24 months. That is a leader\u2019s table that nobody should want to be at the top of, and yet Victoria is.”<\/p>\n
The Business Council boss also reiterated that it was not enough to amend the legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are saying very clearly there is no amendment that is sufficient,\u201d Mr Black said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to help turn this state around\u2026 that starts with scrapping this bill in its entirety.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premier Ben Carroll has been warned not to proceed with the government\u2019s controversial work from home laws, 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