BSCAA Submission on Victoria’s Working From Home Legislation

BSCAA has made a formal submission to the Victorian Government in response to the proposed legislation to introduce a right to work from home, advocating for policy settings that are fair, practical, and reflective of frontline, place‑based industries such as cleaning and building services.

Submitted on 22 September 2025, the submission acknowledges the value of flexible working arrangements where appropriate. However, BSCAA acted to ensure that proposed reforms do not unintentionally disadvantage essential workers or compliant employers in industries where the majority of roles must be performed on-site.

BSCAA’s advocacy was driven by the need to ensure that frontline workers are not overlooked in workforce reform. Cleaning and building services staff play a critical role in keeping workplaces, public infrastructure, and community facilities operating safely. A legislated, universal right to work from home risks creating a two‑tier workforce, where office‑based roles gain new entitlements that are simply not available to on‑site workers, potentially undermining fairness, morale, and workplace cohesion.

The submission also highlighted that one‑size‑fits‑all legislative approaches do not reflect the operational realities of service‑based industries. Effective service delivery relies on close coordination between operational and administrative teams, on-the-job supervision, and in-person training—particularly for new and early‑career workers. Mandated remote work arrangements may weaken communication, reduce productivity, and fragment teams in ways that existing flexible work frameworks avoid.

Importantly, BSCAA emphasised that current industrial relations laws already provide a balanced and workable framework. Employees are entitled to request flexible working arrangements, and employers are required to consider those requests reasonably. BSCAA argued that this approach allows flexibility to be negotiated at the workplace level, taking into account role requirements, performance, and operational needs, rather than imposed through rigid legislative mandates.

BSCAA was also mindful of the impact on small and medium-sized businesses, which make up a significant proportion of the cleaning industry. Additional regulation in this area could increase compliance complexity, discourage investment, and place further pressure on businesses already operating on tight commercial margins.

Through this submission, BSCAA sought to ensure that government decision-making is informed by real-world industry experience and that workforce reforms support flexibility without creating inequity or unintended harm to essential service industries.

BSCAA will continue to engage constructively with the Victorian Government as discussions progress, advocating for workforce policies that balance flexibility with fairness, operational practicality, and long‑term sustainability.