Sydney Randwick Council ban working from home order staff into office five days a week

Employees of a municipality have rioted after they were ordered to stop working from home and go to the office five days a week.

Randwick Council, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, has told its staff to come to the office five days a week by September 11 or their jobs will be at risk.

Employees who currently operate a hybrid model of non-mandatory attendance for some positions are resisting the move, claiming it disadvantages women, will lower morale and lead to an exodus of workers.

A spokesperson for the municipality says that bringing all employees together in the office will lead to more collaboration, better workplace learning, coaching and development and better customer service.

An anonymous email sent to Randwick councilors last month outlined a number of objections to the order.

“This decision does not take into account the impact on the workforce – family obligations, mental health and well-being, commute travel times and the financial burden imposed during the current economic crisis,” the email reads, according to the statement. The Sydney Morning Herald.

The email also argued that changing work arrangements would “disproportionately affect women, who typically carry most of the caring responsibilities.”

Union leader Ian Robertson, head of the Development and Environmental Professionals’ Association, said he was told members would quit if dragged back into office.

“I’m already getting feedback from members that if this happens, they’ll look to work elsewhere,” he wrote in a letter to the council’s acting general manager.

The council spokesman argued that not all employees preferred the hybrid model.

“We heard from our staff that many worked longer hours when they worked from home and that there was no clear separation between home and work,” she said.

Homeworking, which was widely practiced during the Covid pandemic period, is emerging as a major fault line between workers and bosses as the economy continues to deteriorate.

In an Australian Financial Review survey of corporate heavyweights in June, Telstra chairman John Mullen accused those who work from home of abusing the work-from-home privilege for a drop in productivity.

Bosses are becoming increasingly irritable about staff working from home, claiming it leads to lower productivity

“It’s arguable, but I wonder if the very recent declines haven’t been exacerbated by the trend of working from home since the start of the pandemic,” Mullen said.

“Anecdotally, many people are working harder than ever and are more productive, but I don’t think this is true for everyone.”

Sydney Hydro director Tony Shepherd also said working from home was less productive.

“During the pandemic, working from home, absenteeism and supply chain disruptions all negatively impacted productivity and continue to do so,” he said.

Canstar finance expert Steve Mickenbecker agreed that working from home could make it harder for bosses to keep an eye on their employees.

“It’s a more challenging landscape for employers to manage inputs,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘The problem with working from home is that the collaboration is starting to falter a bit.

“There’s not someone at the next counter you can say ‘how do you do this or what if we try this?’ You don’t get those conversations very often.

“Those elements of creativity and spontaneity in the workplace are starting to fall away and so is some of the culture and team spirit.”

A commercial real estate company boss even went so far as to turn down “selfish” employees for choosing to work from home in May.

Canstar financial expert Steve Mickenbecker says working from home can harm collaboration

Nicole Duncan, chief executive and managing director of the CR Commercial Property Group, told 2GB’s Ben Fordham that she was “passionate” about people returning to their offices in city centers.

“This generation is so selfish,” she said.

“In our younger years, we took trains, buses, and ferries to get to work,” she said.

“Yes, it took two or three hours, but you have to be at the office.

“Until CEOs make a decision and get brutal about it, it’s not going to change because the unemployment rate is still too low.”