“Today is a historic day for employees,” says Michele O’Neil, the president of the Australian Council for Trade Unions (Actu), “Australians will be able to spend quality time with their loved ones without having to constantly answer unreasonable work calls and messages.” There is a name for this, even if it should be the norm, it’s called “right to disconnect” and we’ve been talking about it since it’s no longer a given that, outside of working hours, we really switch off and dedicate ourselves to something else. A law that sets the boundary between work and private life came into effect in Australia on Monday providing employees with an “enforceable workplace right to refuse to monitor, read, or respond to contact, or attempted contact, from their employer outside of working hours.”
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The right to disconnect has been talked about in recent years, especially because of the hyperconnectivity caused by technology. We are always reachable via the smartphones we carry around with us and emails find us everywhere, even at the beach under the umbrella. This, however, leads employees to carry out tasks after hours for which they are not paid and has, above all, a significant impact on mental healthBeing on vacation but never taking a break or having a work schedule that is only valid on paper because the phone calls keep ringing even when you’re at home leads to burnout.
The Australian law applies to all government employees and from next year to those of small private businesses. It will effectively cover the majority of Australian employees, but there are concerns about its application. The law establishes the right to remain silent “unless such refusal is unreasonable”. It therefore opens up to an assessment of the reason for the urgency, the means by which the employee is contacted, any remuneration for overtime, the employee’s position and personal situation. Added to this is the fact that it is up to the employee to file a formal complaint to stop being disturbed after hours. At that point the Fair Work Commission will assess the situation and may require the employer to stop contacting its employees after hours. If the behavior continues, the commission may apply administrative sanctions. Yet it is not a given that the employee will feel comfortable asserting this right by going against their employer, nor that sanctions are enough to discourage this habit. However, it remains a first step to protect free time and make it clear in black and white that the problem exists.
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