Given the rising cases of community transmission of Covid-19 over the last few days, the NSW Government has issued the following direction regarding working from home:
- Employers must allow an employee to work from home if it is reasonably practicable to do so.
- If you cannot work from home and you go to your workplace, you must wear a face mask (unless an exemption applies).
This is currently applicable to ALL OF NSW – members can follow updates HERE
At an absolute minimum, this should mean any member who was able to perform some or all of their role from home in previous lockdowns under the same circumstances should again be able to do so this time. It’s also likely that improvements in remote working capacity will mean that it is now reasonably practicable for even more roles than last time to work from home.
The PSA is concerned that individual Managers or individual Departments are prohibiting work from home by stating that they are an essential service, despite it being reasonably practicable for some or all of the role to be completed from home. This completely undermines the intention of the Government and the public health order.
While the above instructions are in place, everyone in NSW should be working from home if it is reasonably practicable for them to do so, in order to best respond to the risks from this pandemic.
Lastly, the PSA recognises that many of our members don’t have the option to work from home and will continue to attend their workplaces providing vital services to the people of NSW. We thank you for the critical work you do and your union will continue to fight to ensure that the risk of Covid transmission at work is as low as possible through maximising working from home arrangements and the provision of masks/other PPE as necessary.
If you need any assistance during this challenging period, please do not hesitate to contact the PSA Member Support Centre on 1300 772 679.
Are any of your colleagues not yet members? Talk to them about the union today! There’s never been a more important time to JOIN THE PSA!