Two recent Fair Work Commission decisions have highlighted a shift in how workplace fatigue among older Australians is understood, with implications for the modern workplace and existential limitations.
Contrasting rulings on work-from-home requests
In July, the commission rejected a request from Steven Polak, a full-time council employee, to reduce his office days from two a week to one. Polak, over 55, cited work-related fatigue exacerbated by his commute. The commission sided with his employer, accepting that substantial team turnover and a lack of long-serving employees were reasonable business grounds for requiring his in-person presence.
Last week, however, a 63-year-old Victoria University student adviser, Michele Duffy, succeeded in a similar request. Duffy sought two days a week working from home, arguing a reduced commute would alleviate physical fatigue and improve productivity. The university denied the request, citing the face-to-face nature of her role. While the commission acknowledged business merit in the university's claim, it ordered one day a week working from home, without requiring Duffy to prove a medical condition.
Recognition of age-related exhaustion
The commission's reasoning marks a transformative realisation: while it had acknowledged Polak's commute was depleting, it now accepted that over 55, such depletion was exhausting, making Duffy's request fair enough.
The shift may reflect different circumstances weighed against professional discretion, or perhaps a nod to British politician Tony Benn's claim that "the exhaustion of old age is something people who are younger don't fully appreciate." Alternatively, one might imagine the influence of French philosopher Simone Weil's quote from Gravity and Grace: "no poetry concerning the people is authentic if fatigue does not figure in it."
Broader context of fatigue and work
Studies from 2016 and 2021 found sleep problems and their daytime consequences "are endemic among Australian adults," with nearly half reporting at least two sleep-related issues. In 2016, 29% of surveyed adults attributed work errors in the previous three months to sleep-related tiredness. While work is not solely to blame, 16% reported working until bedtime, and technological advancement has allowed work to colonise private lives.
Australia's "right to disconnect" legislation, introduced in 2024, recognises how thoroughly work boundaries have eroded. Health impacts of such intrusion include increased cardiovascular stress, cognitive impairment, and susceptibility to infection. The World Health Organization views burnout not as a medical issue but an occupational phenomenon from workplace stresses like long hours, time pressure, shift work, and inadequate support.
Changing workforce demographics
The evolution in the commission's thinking aligns with a revolution in labour force participation. In 2000, the average age of Australian retirement was about 53; by 2024, it was 63.8. Age brings new physical demands and life situation changes. In the year Duffy was born, barely a third of Australian women were in the workforce, with far lower representation among the 60+ cohort. By 2020, 51.7% of Australian women aged 60 to 64 were working.
Gendered expectations around care, family, and home have not been similarly revolutionised. Managerial culture remains stuck in a hundred-year-old model demanding visibility and supervision, assessing performance by presence rather than productivity. Work-from-home has emerged as an imperfect instrument to address the disconnect, with studies reporting comparable productivity and less absenteeism among home workers.
The most meaningful criticism of working from home is that it intrudes further into hours and realms of separate existence. While individuals and unions fight for a responsive, staff-centred workplace, employer resistance at Fair Work has exploded the myth that workers have no value. Clearly, they do—if only we weren't all so bloody tired.
