Awards and arrangements

Clerks Award working from home clause (5A)

The Fair Work Commission inserted clause 5A, Requests for working from home arrangements, into the Clerks—Private Sector Award 2020 by determination PR815538, which came into operation on 26 October 2026. It lets a clerical employee ask in writing to work from home and lets the employer agree to change how some hours-of-work and break terms apply, but it does not require the employer to say yes (determination PR815538).

Updated 5 November 2026. General information, not legal advice.

What is clause 5A and when did it start?

Clause 5A is a working from home term in the Clerks—Private Sector Award 2020. It came into operation on 26 October 2026 and applies to each employee from the start of their first full pay period starting on or after that date.

The Commission started the case (AM2024/34) on its own initiative on 29 August 2024, following its Modern Awards Review 2023–24. A Full Bench decided on 27 August 2026 ([2026] FWCFB 225) that the award should include a working from home term, published a draft, took submissions until 17 September 2026, then settled the final wording in a further decision ([2026] FWCFB 281) and issued the determination on 19 October 2026. Case documents are on the Commission’s AM2024/34 page.

The Full Bench decided against a term that compels employers to allow working from home, and against a formal ‘right to request’ model. Instead it adopted a consensual term: the employee may ask and the employer may agree. It rejected a request for a 6-month lead time because the clause imposes no burden on an employer that does not agree.

Which employees does clause 5A cover?

Every employee covered by the Clerks Award: private sector employees wholly or principally engaged in clerical work, and their employers (clause 4.1). The Full Bench saw no reason to exclude any classification.

Clerical work runs across most industries, so the award often covers administration, reception, accounts and data entry staff in businesses whose main award is something else. It does not apply where an enterprise agreement covers the employee (enterprise agreement or award). For a coverage check across your workforce, see modern award compliance. Clause 5A is a Commonwealth award term, separate from the Victorian work from home bill, which lapsed without passing.

What can an employer and employee agree under clause 5A?

Working from home at the employee’s residence or another location the employer approves, plus agreed changes to 4 award terms (continuous hours, employer control of when hours are worked, rest breaks and meal breaks) and use of 4 existing facilitative provisions.

Award terms that can be adjusted in a clause 5A arrangement
Clause 5A	Award term	Effect of agreement
5A.4(a)	13.6(a) continuous ordinary hours	Hours can be split, for example around school pick-up
5A.4(b)	13.6(b) employer’s discretion over hours	Employee can choose when ordinary hours are worked
5A.4(c), (d)	15.2 rest breaks, 15.3 meal breaks	Break times can be varied
5A.5(a)	13.4(c), 25.2(c) spread of hours	Spread moved up to 1 hour either way by individual agreement
5A.5(b)	13.8, 26.5 make-up time	Time off made up later
5A.5(c)	26.4(b) shift start and finish times	Shift times changed by agreement
5A.5(d)	23, 29 time off instead of overtime	TOIL arrangements

The employee’s request must be in writing and state the day(s) of the week, or the number, proportion or pattern of days, they propose to work from home (clause 5A.3). Clause 5A also covers formalising an arrangement that already exists informally (Note 1).

What must the written agreement include?

The agreement must be in writing and state the days (or number, proportion or pattern of days), the work location, any modified award terms, any facilitative agreement, the start date, and how it can be varied or ended. You must keep it as a time and wages record and give the employee a copy.

It must be made without coercion or duress (clause 5A.7).
Keep it with your time and wages records (record-keeping obligations) and give the employee a copy (clause 5A.8).
Clause 5A does not limit individual flexibility arrangements under clause 5, which remain available but carry the better off overall test.

A working from home policy can set out how requests are made, who decides, and the template agreement you use, so each arrangement records the clause 5A.6 details.

What does clause 5A not change?

Pay rates, penalty rates, allowances and the overtime rules stay as they were. Overtime for hours outside the spread is payable only where the work is at the employer’s direction (clause 21.1(c)).

The spread of ordinary hours remains 7.00 am to 7.00 pm Monday to Friday (clause 13.3), adjustable by one hour either way by agreement. The Full Bench declined employer proposals to widen it.
The Full Bench found no basis to change the first aid, laundry or overtime meal allowances for people working from home ([2026] FWCFB 225 at [104]).
The right to disconnect (s 333M and clause 13A) is unaffected.
Clause 5A says nothing about who pays for home-office equipment or running costs.

How does clause 5A interact with a s 65 flexible working request?

They run side by side. An eligible employee can still make a flexible working request under s 65 of the Fair Work Act, which carries a 21-day written response, a reasonable business grounds test for refusal and, for requests made on or after 6 June 2023, Fair Work Commission arbitration.

Clause 5A request compared with a s 65 request
Feature	Clause 5A (Clerks Award)	Section 65 (NES)
Who can ask	Any employee covered by the award	Employees with 12 months’ service (or long-term regular casuals) in a listed circumstance, such as caring for a school-age child, disability, age 55 or over, or pregnancy
Form	Written, stating days or pattern	Written, with details of the change and reasons
Employer response	May agree; no set timeframe	Written response within 21 days
Refusal	No test in the clause	Only after discussion, genuine attempt to agree, and on reasonable business grounds (s 65A)
Disputes	Award dispute resolution (clause 40)	Fair Work Commission, including arbitration (ss 65B, 65C)

If a request could fall under either, treat it with the s 65 standard: respond in writing within 21 days and give specific business reasons if you refuse. The Commission’s Form F10C page sets out when an employee can take a refusal to it.

An employee covered by the award is entitled to its benefit, which is a workplace right under s 341(1)(a). Under s 340 you must not take adverse action against an employee because they have or exercise a workplace right, so keep decisions on rosters, performance or redundancy separate from, and documented independently of, any working from home request.

Questions

Does the Clerks Award give employees a right to work from home?

No. Clause 5A lets an employee request a working from home arrangement and lets the employer agree; it does not require the employer to agree.

When does clause 5A apply from?

The determination came into operation on 26 October 2026 and applies to each employee from their first full pay period starting on or after that date.

Do I need to put an existing working from home arrangement in writing?

Clause 5A can be used to formalise an existing arrangement, and any agreement made under it must be in writing. Without one, the award’s continuous hours and break rules still apply in full when the employee works from home.

Is there a Victorian law on working from home as well?

A Victorian bill proposing a right to work from home lapsed on 3 November 2026 without passing the Legislative Council, so there is no Victorian right to work from home as at 5 November 2026.

Sources

Checked against these sources on 5 November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.