Victoria locks in WFH entitlement, creates compliance headache
Victoria will mandate two days per week remote work for eligible employees starting 1 September 2026, with regular casuals and part-time staff included in the entitlement.
The law covers businesses with 15+ employees from September 2026, with smaller businesses getting until July 2027 to comply. Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed no small business exemption: "Small business workers who can work from home will have that right protected two days per week."
This marks Australia's first statutory WFH entitlement. Unlike Fair Work's request-based framework, Victoria's law creates a legal right enforced through the Equal Opportunity Act. Disputes go to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, not Fair Work.
What this means for sales teams
For sales leaders managing Victorian-based teams, the compliance layer just got thicker. Your SDRs and AEs in Melbourne now have a legal entitlement to two days remote, regardless of your preferred office culture or territory structure.
Employers can refuse WFH requests only if the role genuinely requires physical presence or has documented business reasons. That documentation requirement matters: you will need to justify why your enterprise AE needs to be in-office five days when their role is mostly Zoom calls and Salesforce updates.
Part-time and regular casual staff are covered. Pro-rata guidance is coming, but expect your part-time SDR working three days per week to have entitlement to remote work on at least one of those days.
Cross-state complexity
For ANZ sales organisations with teams across states, this creates a two-tier system. Your Victorian AEs get statutory WFH rights. Your NSW and Queensland reps do not. Managing that inconsistency while maintaining team cohesion and performance standards will require clear policy documentation.
The law commences before many organisations have finalised their post-pandemic remote work policies. If you are hiring Victorian-based sales roles, factor this into territory design and comp structures now. Businesses with 15+ employees have until September 2026 to get documentation, role reviews, and refusal justifications in order.
Victoria just turned WFH from a perk into a compliance requirement. Sales leaders: review your Victorian headcount, audit which roles can reasonably be done remotely, and document everything.