Should remote work employees get paid less?

The debate about how much remote employees should be paid reignited this week when a former premier proposed to cut the wages of those choosing to work from home.

Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett in a Herald Sun op-ed talked about how public servants working from home can save money from transportation costs, while frontline workers aren't able to.

"Clearly, Victoria's financial position is such that we cannot afford to be increasing salaries, so the most appropriate method is if a person chooses to work from home, whatever the number of days a week, their salary is reduced by the reduction in costs they would have otherwise incurred," he said.

His remarks came as Australian Public Servants are set to receive expanded flexible work rights, including the option to ask for work from home without limit for a week.

"Of course, where a person works from should be the choice of the individual, but you can't have your cake and eat it too," Kennett said as quoted by Sky News.

'Knee-jerk' views on remote work

Kennett's suggestion on cutting remote workers' pay wasn't received well by other groups, including the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

"Jeff Kennett should abandon his knee-jerk Liberal party views, working people are living through a cost-of-living crisis after 10 years of wage stagnation. The last thing people need is pay cuts," ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said in a statement.

McManus also called out how the party is likely to propose pay cuts whenever there is an issue affecting employees.

"It wouldn't matter the problem, it's always the same solution, cut workers' pay," the ACTU secretary said.

‘Old school thinking’ about work from home

Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil also described Kennett's remarks as "the sort of old‑school thinking" from "Liberal Party elders."

"Let's be a bit modern and flexible here and just recognise that sometimes it's okay for people to work at home a bit," O'Neil told television programme Sunrise. "And as for the idea of docking their pay, I mean, come on Jeff Kennett, like get with the modern times. It's just not the current way of thinking about work and family."

According to the minister, the decision on where employees work should be left to negotiations between employees and their bosses.

"We want to see more people come back to work so that the CBDs (central business districts) can enliven, certainly, but more importantly, we want to see successful, prosperous businesses that can employ more people in a productive way," she said.

Amid attempts to get people back in offices post-pandemic, some organisations have declared they will be offering reduced salaries to employees who will work from home.

But for employees already working fully remote, a previous Ipsos survey revealed that more than half of them (55%) would take lesser pay if it meant they get to work remotely. Majority (80%) of the respondents, however, said they will accept on-site work as long as it offers high compensation.