Cost of home office supplies will impact small business.

 

The cost of home office supplies has been listed among the reasons why the Victorian government is facing pressure to overhaul controversial work-from-home laws that allow workers to work from home twice a week.

 

Newly-minted Victorian Premier Ben Carroll is being urged to change the major policy he inherited from outgoing Premier Jacinta Allen, which was set to come into effect in September.

 

The laws will give workers the right to work remotely twice a week, but there are major concerns among small businesses.

 

These concerns include funding home office supplies, rising compliance costs and responsibility for work-from-home injuries.

 

The potential requirement for employers to cover hardware, software and IT costs may be manageable for larger organisations but has a magnified impact on smaller businesses, according to the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia.

 

COSBOA has suggested businesses with fewer than 50 employees be exempt from the new legislation.