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An employee has convinced the Fair Work Commission to order an exception to her employer's hybrid working policy, because after moving further away from its office and enrolling her children in a more distant school, she required a fully remote working arrangement to manage pick-ups and drop-offs.

Deputy President Thomas Roberts accepted the employee's circumstances arose partly because of her own choices, which she made in the absence of any commitment from the employer to accommodate them. However, the fact she'd already been working remotely for an extended period weighed against the employer's objections.

The employee, who works in Westpac's mortgage operations team, had worked remotely full-time since 2018, prior to taking parental leave. In 2021, while still fully remote, she and her partner purchased a home in Wilton NSW, which was further away than their previous residence from Westpac's corporate office in Kogarah.

From August 2022 she was required to attend a corporate office one day per month. Then in late 2024, after Westpac implemented its hybrid working policy requiring two office days per week, the employee sought approval to work these days from the employer's Bowral branch, closer to home...