NSW government directs public service workers to return to the office

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The New South Wales government has directed public service workers to return to the office, marking a change from COVID-19 flexible working arrangements. While the move has been praised by business groups, unions say it’s not the end of working from home.

Transcript

00:00Well, this new directive from the Minsk government is essentially asking them to principally

00:05be based in approved workplaces.

00:08Now that means working in offices and in state government buildings instead of working from

00:14home.

00:15The new advice posted yesterday is a major change from the flexible working arrangements

00:20that were brought in through COVID-19.

00:22It's a major change to a lot of workers.

00:24We know that the New South Wales public sector is the largest workforce in the country.

00:29Now it doesn't specify any quotas or work patterns for these workers, but it does say

00:35that it's calling for workers to make use of those public assets right throughout the

00:40week.

00:41It does allow for some flexibilities and ad hoc arrangements, but those are pre-approved

00:46ones that are based on agency need and employee circumstances that do need to be reviewed

00:51regularly.

00:52Now the government is going to host a town hall meeting today with its workers to provide

00:56a little more clarity and details on what exactly this change is going to look like.

01:01And they are set to review the system at this time next year.

01:04Business groups and property groups here in Sydney have celebrated the move saying it's

01:09going to be bringing workers back into the CBD.

01:12The property council has said that the CBD has been lagging ever since COVID-19 and it

01:17is imperative to bring those workers back into the city.

01:20But the union has said this doesn't mean an end to working from home.

01:25The Public Sector Association has said it's going to continue to fight for flexible working

01:30arrangements and is going to support those workers where necessary.

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