The Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC) has expressed its deep disappointment and frustration at the Victorian Government's announcement that its work from home legislation will apply to all businesses regardless of size, including the thousands of small automotive enterprises that form the backbone of Victoria's automotive industry.
The announcement by Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed the Government's intention to extend its work from home laws to small businesses, removing any headcount threshold and granting employees the right to work from home two days per week. For the automotive industry, where the overwhelming majority of roles require physical presence in workshops, showrooms, and parts counters, this decision is both impractical and potentially devastating.
"This announcement is a slap in the face to every small automotive business owner in Victoria," VACC CEO, Peter Jones, said.
"We warned the Government in the strongest possible terms that this legislation would be unworkable for our industry. We submitted a comprehensive industry submission. We surveyed our members. And it's now clear that every word of it was ignored. The Government claims to have consulted extensively – but not with us, and not with the industries that will be most affected."
A productivity killer backed by the evidence
The VACC claims this legislation is not just impractical – it is a direct threat to productivity across Victorian industry. The Productivity Commission has made clear that Australian workplaces have already found the right balance when it comes to working from home under current legislative settings.
The Commission has further warned that legislating a right to work from home could, at worst, undermine the ability of employers and workers to reach mutually beneficial arrangements. Whether at a federal or state level, the evidence is clear – yet the Victorian Government continues to press ahead regardless.
The automotive industry is a textbook example. Workshop productivity depends on team coordination, access to specialist equipment, real-time diagnostics, and face-to-face customer interactions. Legislating a right to work from home in an industry built on hands-on, collaborative work is not progressive policy – it is economic self-harm.
"The Productivity Commission itself has said the current framework is already working and that legislating further risks doing more harm than good," Jones said.
"Yet the Victorian Government is pressing ahead with legislation that ignores this evidence entirely. This isn't about flexibility – it's about ideology overriding common sense."
Disadvantaging blue-collar workers
The legislation also creates a deeply unfair two-tier system that overwhelmingly disadvantages blue-collar workers, says VACC. In the automotive industry, administrative staff may be able to work remotely, but the technicians, mechanics, panel beaters, spray painters, parts interpreters, and service advisors who make up the vast majority of the workforce cannot. These workers will see colleagues granted a legislated benefit that is physically impossible for them to access.
"This law doesn't create fairness – it entrenches inequality," Jones said.
"The Government talks about giving small business workers the same rights as those in big banks. But the reality is that a mechanic will never have the same ability to work from home as a bank analyst. This legislation effectively tells blue-collar workers that their work doesn't count."
Devastating impact on small automotive businesses
The extension of these laws to small business will disproportionately affect the automotive sector, according to VACC, where more than 95 per cent of businesses have fewer than 20 employees. These are workshops, dealerships, parts suppliers, and service centres where the work simply cannot be performed remotely.
The legislation creates an impossible situation for small automotive business owners who will be forced to navigate complex compliance requirements around work from home requests for roles that fundamentally require on-site attendance.
"The Government's own announcement acknowledges that not all workers can work from home," Jones said.
"But it then places the burden on small business owners to manage, assess, and potentially defend their refusal of work from home requests – adding yet another layer of red tape and legal risk to businesses that are already struggling under the weight of regulation and rising costs."
A solution looking for a problem
VACC reiterates its position that flexible work arrangements should remain a matter for negotiation between employers and employees based on the practical realities of each business and role. Legislating a blanket right to work from home across all industries and all business sizes demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how the private sector operates.
The VACC also continues to raise serious concerns about the constitutional validity of the legislation, given that workplace relations is primarily a Commonwealth responsibility under the Fair Work Act 2009.
"This Government should be supporting small business, not suffocating them," Jones said.
"This legislation could be the final straw for small businesses, may reduce employment opportunities, and drive investment interstate. We call on the Government to engage in genuine consultation with peak industry bodies and deliver workable exemptions for industries where remote work is simply not possible."