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Victorian government faces backlash from small businesses over right to work-from-home laws
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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Does this not just come out in the wash based on their performance? Like, even if they were say working 6.75 hours instead of the 7.6 standard per day (38 hour standard work week) and were getting their tasks done to a high standard, who cares?
With the time spent not commuting, they're probably hitting their work hours easy.
This is obviously not legal advice, but the angle I'd take if I I were you is if their performance is lacking, just don't even mention the kid at all, it should be squarely focused on performance, that's the only thing that matters to you.
Just my two cents that I think this won't be a big deal in the end, even for employers. Covid has shown us working from home works just fine for most desk jobs.
Disclaimer, I don't have kids, and am an employee of a business where I have to submit timesheets, so these comments are based on my own opinions and not from experience or expertise.
Yeah, this is what I surmised at the time - I cant ask about kids, only monitor performance.
The thing is, we're a very small team. We don't have any performance monitoring or improvement infrastructure. If youre making lots of mistakes, and others are helping you out a lot, then your performance needs to improve.
If other team members are picking up your dropped catches, and they thing you're at home with your kid, it becomes a real morale issue.
Other staff WFH and no one cares if they goof off a bit.
My point is, for a small business managing performance is much more challenging with WFH.
Is this not a type of performance monitoring? And to be fair, would performance not be monitored in the same way (assuming it's a desk job) not matter if they're working from home or not. I just am usually a bit sceptical that WFH is much of a burden.
This might be a little un-generous, but it seems that you believe the employee is making more mistakes at home, but it could also be your own bias that you know they have a child at home, and you think they're more distracted. I'd encourage you to just look at their work and decide from that if there's actually an issue here (there may well be, I obviously have no idea).
You'll save yourself headaches down the line if you end up putting them on a performance management plan (if it really is a serious issue and not overreacting, again I have no idea), if you base it entirely on performance, and that way there will be no accusations of bias.
If they're getting their work down, I'd encourage you to not worry about it and if they're not, the issue is with them not holding up their end of the bargain - not WFH.
Me personally, I like being in the office, because it's so much easier to bother each other for a quick chat about XYZ issue. When you're at home all you can do is message, since it's hard to tell how focused someone is. At the office you can base it on vibes. I am also single with no kids, so I am strongly in favour of WFH for everyone by default.
I obviously won't tell you how to run your own business, especially since I've never managed a team before, let alone a small business. But I'm still finding it hard to imagine why it's so much harder for a small business (if it's just a desk job).
Anyway, just my 2 cents to encourage you to catch yourself being biased because of children (if you are, you may be right on the money!)
Good to catch with ya :)
I got rid of this particular idiot months ago.
You seem to have missed my point.
Small businesses generally don't have the resources, experience, or skills to implement a PMP.
Okay, but how would WFH affect that.
Especially since you said others did WFH with no probs, I'm really struggling to find how WFH in particular is so unworkable for you or other small businesses.
Edit: in particular, how is WFH more of a burden for small business compared to larger ones.
It absolutely does need to be legislated, evidenced by the fact that you or others don't want to do it. The "free market" is not how workers achieved good conditions at work.
An employee with performance issues is not going to be improved by looking after their kid while they work.
This is problem with the employee, and not WFH.
And I'm glad as a state we're not throwing the baby out with the bath water on this one.
You'll figure it out how to manage 2 days WFH, I'm sure. It works absolutely fine for the vast majority of workers and employers.