The Fair Work Commission has ruled in favour of a father who wanted an additional work-from-home day to care for his young child, rejecting the company’s argument that it would create “distractions” and lower his productivity.

Kent Aoyama, an account manager at Freight and Logistics Services Australian (FLSA) since May 2021, brought the case to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) late last year after his request to work an extra day per fortnight from home was knocked back.

In a decision handed down late last month, Commissioner Damian Sloan ruled in favour of Aoyama and found that the employer must try to accommodate an employee’s work-from-home requests if it is “in a position to do so” and that concerns that caring for a young child will be a distraction were “misguided”.

‘Distractions’ at home

The FWC heard that Aoyama had permission to work from home on Tuesday and Thursdays since at least mid-2023.

This didn’t change when he and his wife had a baby in July 2023, but after his wife changed jobs and no longer had work hour flexibility, Aoyama requested to work every second Monday from home to look after his young daughter.

In response, Aoyama’s manager said FLSA had received two complaints about him working from home from a customer and a supplier, in relation to a “young child and the distraction”, and rejected his work-from-home request.

“Due to the nature of your account management role and the responsibilities that come with that role, we have some concerns,” Aoyama was told.

“We do need to be clear that your primary responsibility during paid work hours is to undertake the requirements of your role, which includes attending to and being responsive to customers without distraction (which includes providing care for a young child).”

Aoyama said that while working from home he may need to change his daughter’s nappies, help her get to sleep and tend to her if she’s upset.

FLSA said this amounted to “significant supervisory responsibilities” that represented a “significant distraction” and would mean he was “distracted and interrupted during work hours”.

The company also said that a ruling against it would set a precedent and that it “spends a lot of money on real estate and would prefer for its employees to be in the office”.

‘Misguided’ arguments against WFH

Commissioner Sloan found in favour of Aoyama and his work-from-home request, pointing out that the National Employment Standards state that the purpose of flexible working arrangements is to accommodate the circumstances of individual employees, if a company is in a position to do so.

Taking this into account, the Commissioner found that the request for an extra day per fortnight working from home was not inconsistent with Aoyama’s employment agreement.

The FWC also found that FLSA’s claim that Aoyama’s contract requires him to spend all of his time on company work would prevent him from undertaking caring duties to be “misguided”.

“It is a stretch to suggest that it operates as a bar to Mr Aoyama changing his child’s nappies or settling her when required during work hours,” Sloan said in the judgement.

The Commissioner ordered Aoyama’s original request for an extra day per fortnight working from home to be approved, at least until his daughter is two years old.

The ruling came just before Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced that all public servants will be required to work from the office full-time if the Coalition wins the upcoming federal election.

Echoing a move by US President Donald Trump, such a policy would end flexible working arrangements that have been in place in the public sector since 2023.

This may lead to a mass exodus from the public service, with research last year finding that up to 40 per cent of workers would quit their jobs if their access to flexible work was stripped away.

It also found that just under 80 per cent of workers rate their ability to work remotely as being important to their overall job satisfaction.

A report by the Centre for Economic Development Australia last year found that more than a third of Australians are working from home.