Should a mother who chose to move to the countryside and send her young children to a private school two hours from her workplace be required to turn up to the office every week?

The industrial umpire this week decided the answer is no, a decision that could help accelerate the already advanced shift from the office to the home.

A 23-year Westpac veteran from the bank’s mortgage-processing department, Karlene Chandler, this week successfully challenged a policy requiring all staff like her to work from a corporate office at least two days a week. Her argument boiled down to: going to the office would be inconvenient for her life.

The Fair Work Commission decision is an example of how far Australia’s industrial relations system has shifted under a Labor government. Employers have lost so

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