A Fair Work Commission decision, handed down this week, ruled there was no case to stop detectives working hours of either 2pm-10pm or 3pm-11pm, about twice per month, covering a wider region.

The previous arrangement had them working 8am-4pm, before staying on-call into the evening if required.

But Victoria Police argued that about 50 per cent of serious crimes occurred outside those hours so "detectives will have improved responsiveness during afternoon shifts given they will be able to listen to the police radio and contact general duty police officers more readily to ensure crime scenes are preserved, strategies and plans are put in place and attendance at crime scenes can occur immediately".

The PFA opposed the change because it argued detectives' workloads would increase, causing fatigue and decreasing efficiency.

It stated stations like Benalla, with lower staff numbers, would need sergeants to perform daytime "crime response duties when detectives were working at night.

"There has been insufficient consultation with the PFA and its members by Victoria Police members at Alexandra and Benalla will have difficulty providing A/V in the event that a member from their units have unplanned personal leave, courses, court or are absent from work," the PFA told the commission.

Fair Work commissioner Nick Wilson acknowledged "distrust, anger even, has likely not been assisted by the tendency of Victoria Police to respond over-bureaucratically to employee concerns", but said the move was not unreasonable.

"There is no reasonable case to be made that employees were not consulted about the OHS implications of the proposed shift changes," he said.

"While the foreseeability of increased community complaint may be real, the evidence does not establish it to a point where it is unreasonable or becomes a danger for the police officers concerned."

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