CEO maintains they've been focused on keeping Westpac flexible and practical
Westpac CEO Anthony Miller has maintained the company's in-office work policy is the "right" balance - his first public comments on the issue since the banking giant lost a work-from-home case at the Fair Work Commission last month.
Miller, in an address to investors, said the company has been very focused on making sure they are as flexible and practical as possible, news.com.au reported.
"We've been very focused on making sure we're as flexible, as practical and as flexible as possible, and that we can be, and I would say that we think we've got the balance right," Miller said as quoted by the news outlet.
"Our policy is two-to-three days a week in the office, (which) we think is the right balance."
Miller's comments follow a decision by the FWC last month taht sided with an employee who was refused the right to work from home in order to care for her two six-year-old children.
The FWC determined that Westpac did not meet consultation requirements and was unable to establish reasonable grounds for refusing the WFH request.
Risk of workplace tension
In his address, the Westpac CEO further pointed out that there are branch staff in the company who work in the office five days a week, whose presence and activity drive a lot of business for the bank.
"And so if we are going to be one team, everyone needs to be sensitive that they can't just arrive with an expectation or a sense of entitlement that they only need to be in the office one or two or three days a week when we've got others who commit five days every week," Miller said.
"I'm working really hard and we're working really hard as a bank to make sure we get a balance that's right. Because what we want to be is a team that delivers and delivers outcomes."
In August, Miller previously commented on Victoria's proposed WFH legislation, which seeks to enshrine into law working from home at least two days a week, that allowing some employees to work remotely on some days could create "tension" in teams who had to be in the office five days a week.
"One thing that we do grapple with … as you start to try and regulate these things you come up against these kinds of tensions, is that my magnificent branch staff are in the office effectively five days a week," he said in a 3AW radio interview.
"So if we want to create that team culture of everyone working together … you've got to work through those kinds of challenges where some people can work from home a couple of days a week but many have to be in the office five days."
Victoria wants to enshrine into law working from home at least two days a week, drawing pushback from businesses and questions about its legal implications.
