New working from home rules in the Clerks Award
Published 22 October 2026
The Clerks Award has new rules that will soon set out how employees can request working from home arrangements under the award.
On this page:
What’s changing
The Fair Work Commission (the Commission) has made changes to the Clerks - Private Sector Award (Clerks Award). Employees will be able to request working from home arrangements or record existing arrangements under the award.
The new rules apply from an employee's first full pay period starting on or after 26 October 2026.
Requests for working from home
From 26 October 2026, new rules set out how an employee can make a request to their employer for working from home arrangements under the Clerks Award.
Under the new clause, working from home means an employee performing their duties from:
- their home, or
- another location that the employee has chosen that has been approved by their employer.
An employee’s right to request working from home arrangements under the new clause is a protected workplace right. This means that an employee is protected against adverse action.
For more information on protections from adverse action, go to Protections at work.
Tip: Other flexible working arrangements
The new working from home clause is different to flexible working arrangements under the National Employment Standards and individual flexibility arrangements under an award.
Learn more at Flexibility in the workplace.
How a request is made
An employee who wants to request working from home arrangements must:
- make the request in writing
- set out the specific days of the week or the number, proportion or pattern of days that they want to work from home.
An employee and employer can agree to change how certain terms in the award apply when making a working from home arrangement. This includes rules about:
- how ordinary hours are worked
- when rest breaks are taken
- when meal breaks are taken.
Any working from home arrangement is specific to an individual employee and their employer. It won’t apply to other employees within a business.
As part of the arrangement, an employee and employer may also enter into a facilitative agreement. A facilitative agreement allows an employer and employee to agree to change the way that certain award terms apply to the employee. For example, spread of ordinary hours and changes to start and finish times.
For more information about which terms can be changed and how, go to clause 5A of the Clerks Award.
Requirements for a working from home agreement
If an employee and an employer agree to a working from home arrangement, the agreement must be in writing. The written agreement needs to set out:
- the agreed days of the week or the number, proportion or pattern of days, the employee will work from home
- the location the employee will work from
- any terms of the award that have been modified
- any facilitative agreement that has been made
- the start date of the working from home arrangement
- how the arrangement can be varied by agreement or ended by the employee or employer.
The employer must keep a copy of the written agreement as a time and wages record and give a copy to the employee.
Disputes about requests for working from home
If an employee and employer can’t resolve a dispute about a request for working from home arrangements, they can apply to the Commission for help. Learn more at Dealing with disputes under dispute resolution procedures.
What you can do now
To prepare for the change you can:
- read the Commission’s decision
- learn more about Flexibility in the workplace
- find a copy of the award and learn more about who is covered at Clerks Award.
Find information about this major case on the Commission’s website at Working from home – Clerks – Private Sector Award 2020 (AM2024/34).
Tip: We're different from the Fair Work Commission
A reminder that the Commission is the national workplace relations tribunal and registered organisations tribunal. We’re the Fair Work Ombudsman. Our role is to give you advice and assistance on workplace laws.
Learn more about the difference between the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Fair Work Commission.
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