With a new “right to disconnect” law designed to protect privacy, Australian employees can now ignore calls and work emails, Reuters reports.
The new rule, which came into effect on Monday, means that employees in most cases cannot be penalised for refusing to read or respond to contacts from their employers after working hours.
Australians worked an average of 281 hours of unpaid overtime in 2023, according to a survey last year by the Australia Institute. The changes add Australia to a group of about two dozen countries, mostly in Europe and Latin America, that have similar laws.
Pioneer France introduced the rules in 2017 and a year later fined pest control company Rentokil Initial 60,000 euros ($66,700) for demanding an employee always keep their phone switched on.
However, the rule still allows employers to contact their workers, who can only refuse to respond where it is reasonable to do so. It will be up to the Australian industrial arbitrator, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), to determine whether a refusal is reasonable. It has the power to issue a cease and desist order, failing which it can impose a fine of up to A$19,000 per employee or up to A$94,000 per company.
The Australian Industry Group, an employers’ association group, said ambiguity over how the rule applies would create confusion for bosses and workers. Workplaces would become less flexible, which would slow the economy, it added.
The laws came literally and figuratively out of left field, were introduced with minimal consultation about their practical effect and have left little time for employers to prepare.
The president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Michele O’Neil, stated that a clause added to the law meant it would not prevent reasonable requests from being honoured. On the contrary, she said, it would allow workers not to pay for poor planning by management. She cited the example of an unidentified worker who finished his shift at midnight and four hours later received a text message demanding to return to work by 6 a.m.
It’s so easy to make contact, common sense doesn’t get applied anymore. We think this will cause bosses to pause and think about whether they really need to send that text or that email.
