Bunnings boss Michael Schneider has warned that Victoria’s new work-from-home laws will create a ‘structural inequity’ between workers.

Under the sweeping reforms introduced by Premier Jacinta Allan this week, employees will gain the right to work from home two days a week from September 1, provided their role allows it.

But Mr Schneider questioned the need for the laws, arguing businesses are better placed than government to manage flexible work and warning they could split teams.

‘We’ve got a whole lot of teams who have to go to work to perform their duties, our floor teams, our distribution teams, our manufacturing teams and they do amazing work all the time,’ he told Melbourne radio 3AW on Friday.

‘But all of a sudden, we’ve got a situation where our support teams are under this proposed legislation where they have a legal right to work from home a couple of days a week.

‘I’m just a big believer that it has to be fair for everybody in our society.’ 

The retail giant employs about 14,000 staff in Victoria, the vast majority of whom cannot work remotely.

Mr Schneider said Bunnings already offers flexibility across its workforce without the need for legal intervention.

Bunnings boss Michael Schneider (pictured) has questioned why new work-from-home laws are needed in Victoria

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (pictured) moved to introduce the reforms this week

‘We offer flexible work in our stores – we’ve got part-time team [members], casual team [members], team [members] can flex their hours up, flex their hours down, depending on what’s going on in their lives,’ Mr Schneider said.

‘It’s the same for our support centre team.

‘For us, it seems to work perfectly well everywhere else in the country, and I’m not sure that it needs to be different just because it’s Victoria.

‘Employers do want to offer flexibility. I haven’t spoken to a business leader who doesn’t think flexibility is a good thing. But does it need to be legislated?’

The laws, which were first announced in August, will encompass regular casual and part-time workers, the government has revealed.

Entitlements will be proportionate to the number of days a week people work, Allan said.

‘We’ll also be working on guidance materials to support businesses, but this is all common sense,’ she told reporters this week.

Small businesses will be roped into the legislation but won’t have to apply it until mid-2027 so they have more time to get their HR policies and procedures in order.

Mr Schneider said employers already do want to offer flexibility (Pictured, a Bunnings in 2005)

There will be exemptions to the mandate for new workers while serving out their probation period.

Mr Schneider is not alone in his criticism. 

The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Property Council of Australia, Urban Development Institute of Australia, Committee for Melbourne and Housing Industry Association have joined together to call for the legislation to be abandoned.

But Allan has argued there was not a consensus among the business sector about the mandate, which has won the approval of various unions.

‘We had a lot of businesses respond to our survey and we’ve had a lot of consultation as well with businesses,’ she said.

‘We know many of them are already doing it.’ 

The premier added the policy could save workers about $110 a week, or more than $5,000 a year, while reducing commute times and helping more parents stay in the workforce.

‘Work from home works for families, it saves time and money and it gets more parents working,’ she said.

‘That’s why we’re protecting work from home in law.’