On Monday 5 August out of the blue the NSW Premier demanded all public sector workers return to the office fulltime immediately without warning. 

Hybrid working benefits everyone - but it primarily benefits working women and parents. It allows increased workplace participation for working mothers - the economic benefit of that to the State is profound. 

We are calling on the NSW Premier to not be so small minded about hybrid working. 

For many this is 10-15+ hours a week they will now spend commuting instead of spending with their young children, and families. 

Many took employment with the promise of hybrid working conditions, outlined in job ads and agreed with employers. To rip this away would be to break thousands of promises. 

Hybrid working means women with young children are able to work fulltime jobs and juggle daycare/school drop-offs, whereas otherwise they would be forced to drop to parttime. The impact of that sets back women's rights by decades, and will have a huge impact on the economy. 

Not to mention the additional cost for families to pay for before and after school care in the middle of a cost of living crisis. Taking away hybrid working is bad for families and our back pockets. 

Hybrid working allows people to increase their physical exercise, better mental health and many other benefits due to increased personal time not spent commuting. 

Many women have been victims of workplace harassment and offices are not positive places for many. Multiple colleagues of mine have confided in how triggering it is for them to come into an office, and many of us have seen first-hand how toxic office environments can be - especially for women. 

The change management of this sudden announcement was appalling, and the fallout of ripping away these working conditions from thousands of workers is catastrophic for the workers themselves and the NSW economy.

Ripping away hybrid working conditions is anti-women, anti-working parents, and anti-workers. 

Private sector wages are generally higher, but one of the main drawcards to the public sector is flexible working. Forcing workers into the office will push people out of the public sector to private companies in droves. 

We are asking the Premier to commit to upholding hybrid working rights for NSW public sector workers.