Image used for representational purpose only | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Australia on Monday (Aug 26) gave millions of workers the legal right to “disconnect”, allowing them to ignore inappropriate contact from employers, causing major industry uproar.
People can now “refuse to monitor, read or respond” to their employer’s attempts to contact them outside of working hours – unless this refusal is deemed “unreasonable”.
This law is similar to the laws of some European and Latin American countries.
Unions welcomed the legislation, saying it gave workers a way to regain work-life balance.
“Today is a historic day for working people,” Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michelle O’Neill said.
“The union movement has won the legal right for Australians to spend quality time with their loved ones, without the stress of being forced to constantly answer inappropriate work calls and emails,” he said.
“Australian unions reclaim right to stop work after hours.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the reforms implemented by his left-wing Labor government.
“We want to make sure that just as people don’t get work 24 hours a day, they don’t have to work 24 hours a day,” he told national broadcaster ABC.
“Frankly, it’s a mental health issue as well, because people are disconnected from work and able to connect with their families and lives.”
Very confusing
But Australian industry leaders warmly welcomed these reforms.
“The ‘right to disconnect’ legislation is hastily drafted, poorly thought out and highly confusing,” the Australian industry group said in a statement.
“At a minimum, employers and employees will now be uncertain about whether they can take calls outside working hours to provide additional shifts,” it said.
This law, which was implemented in February, came into force for medium and large companies from Monday.
Small companies with less than 15 employees will be covered from August 26, 2025.
“We encourage workplace participants to educate themselves about the right to disconnect and take a practical approach to implementing it in their workplace,” said Anna Booth, head of the Fair Work Ombudsman, Australia’s workplace relations regulator.
Under the law, workers can be ordered by a tribunal to stop unreasonably refusing to contact them outside working hours, and employers can also be ordered to stop unreasonably demanding answers from employees.
The Fair Work Ombudsman said in a statement that the question of what is fair “will depend on the circumstances”.
It says deciding factors may include the reason for the contact, the nature of the employee’s role, and their remuneration for working or being available for extra hours.
France introduced the right to disconnect in 2017 to tackle the “always on” culture facilitated by smartphones and other digital devices.