For Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, “a historic day”. For the organization of Australian businesses, “hasty and confusing” indications
August 26th will be a day to remember for employees of small and medium-sized businesses in Australia. On this day, in fact, The right to disconnect has become law, after being approved by Parliament in February. “Today is a historic day,” commented Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council for Trade Unions. According to the law, After working hours, employees can “refuse to check, read or respond” to office emails, messages and calls unless “the refusal is unreasonable”, without fear of receiving complaints from their managers. For the Council, this is a “victory in terms of cost of living for workers”, especially for teachers, administrators and community service workers. Last year alone, according to data from the Australian Institute, Employees worked 281 unpaid extra hours, worth an estimated AUD$130 billion (about €79 billion).
Fines of up to $94,000 for businesses
Small businesses (with fewer than fifteen employees) will not have to apply the rule immediately, but have until August 26, 2025 to comply. For the others, it has already come into force these days. “Since employees are only paid for certain hours, we want to make sure they don’t have to work twenty-four hours a day,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. In addition to the law, fines have also arrived for those who do not respect it: up to 19 thousand Australian dollars (about 11,500 euros) for the employee or up to 94 thousand Australian dollars (about 57 thousand euros) for the company.
And while there is still reason for the workers to celebrate, there are those who are complaining: the Australian Industry Group (the organisation of Australian businesses) has judged “hasty, ill-conceived and confused” are the indications of the law. The Business Council of Australia (the industry association of the largest local companies) also reiterated these concerns, because this «risks further curbing Australia’s historically low productivity, at a time when the economy is already at a standstill».
The right to disconnect in the rest of the world
Australia is not the first country to have a similar law: in Belgium there is one from 2022, in Spain from 2018, in France it came into force in 2017. Even in Argentina and Mexico there are regulations on the subject, while in countries like the USA and Italy this step has not yet been taken. In our country there is only the law 81/2017where not specifically, among the elements contained in the individual agreement between company and employee in the matter of “smart working”, we are talking about the worker’s rest periods while carrying out remote work.