COVID-normal workplaces: Should working from home be a 'collective flexibility'?

Williamson, S; Pearce, A

COVID-normal workplaces: Should working from home be a 'collective flexibility'?

Williamson, S Pearce, A

Permalink

Publisher:: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, 2022, 64, (3), pp. 461-473
Issue Date:: 2022-04-26

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	COVID-normal workplaces_Williamson Pearce-pdf.pdf		643.68 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Williamson, S
dc.contributor.author	Pearce, A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8777-7298
dc.date.accessioned	2022-07-26T00:23:05Z
dc.date.available	2022-07-26T00:23:05Z
dc.date.issued	2022-04-26
dc.identifier.citation	JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, 2022, 64, (3), pp. 461-473
dc.identifier.issn	0022-1856
dc.identifier.issn	1472-9296
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/159159
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p> Working from home expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Controversy examines how working from home was framed and regulated pre-pandemic. We contrast this with the changes made to Australia's industrial award system during the pandemic to increase flexibilities around working from home, in response to a collective need for a responsive safety net. We argue that the conception and regulation of working from home is shifting from an individual flexibility, to a ‘collective flexibility’ available to a wide array of workers, collectively negotiated and governed by increased regulation. While industrial instruments were varied to accommodate public health requirements and the need of organisations and employees to work from home, these shifts were temporary. We argue that working from home provisions should rightly be regulated as a collective entitlement. We therefore consider possible ways forward in regulating this form of working, drawing from international developments. We raise these issues to extend debates around how working from home can be regulated to benefit employers and employees as we move towards COVID-normal. </jats:p>
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
dc.relation.ispartof	JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/00221856221094894
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1402 Applied Economics, 1503 Business and Management, 1801 Law
dc.subject.classification	Industrial Relations
dc.title	COVID-normal workplaces: Should working from home be a 'collective flexibility'?
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	64
utslib.for	1402 Applied Economics
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management
utslib.for	1801 Law
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-07-26T00:23:04Z
pubs.issue	3
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	64
utslib.citation.issue	3

Abstract:

Working from home expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Controversy examines how working from home was framed and regulated pre-pandemic. We contrast this with the changes made to Australia's industrial award system during the pandemic to increase flexibilities around working from home, in response to a collective need for a responsive safety net. We argue that the conception and regulation of working from home is shifting from an individual flexibility, to a ‘collective flexibility’ available to a wide array of workers, collectively negotiated and governed by increased regulation. While industrial instruments were varied to accommodate public health requirements and the need of organisations and employees to work from home, these shifts were temporary. We argue that working from home provisions should rightly be regulated as a collective entitlement. We therefore consider possible ways forward in regulating this form of working, drawing from international developments. We raise these issues to extend debates around how working from home can be regulated to benefit employers and employees as we move towards COVID-normal.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/159159