2024-08-28 01:51:30
Australia just yesterday joined the club of countries that allow workers the “right to disconnect” from work, a measure that has so far been implemented mainly in European countries, with various variations.
Under the new legislation, which came into force on Monday, businesses cannot penalize employees for not picking up their phones or answering emails outside of working hours. This means that while employers and third-party clients can contact their staff outside working hours, employees now have the legal right to refuse to answer — unless doing so is “unreasonable”.
What is “unreasonable” will be assessed by the Australian Fair Work Commission, which will take into account criteria such as the nature of the employee’s role and level of responsibility, how the contact was made and how disruptive it was.
“The new laws will give workers greater protection in relation to working conditions, job security and their ability to balance work and life, as well as stop underpaying and undervaluing the conditions of Australian workers,” said the Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Moray Watt.
What is true in Greece?
In our country, the right to disconnect has been established since 2022 for teleworking.
According to the KEPEA of the GSEE, the teleworker now has a legally regulated right to disconnect, which consists in his right to completely refrain from providing his work and in particular, not to communicate digitally and not to respond to phone calls, e-mails or any form of communication outside working hours and during his statutory holidays.
It is prohibited to discriminate against a teleworker because he exercised the right to disconnect. The technical and organizational means required to ensure the disconnection of the teleworker from the digital communication and work tools are mandatory terms of the telework contract and are agreed between the employer and the representatives of the workers in the company or farm.
In case of lack of agreement, the above is determined by the employer and communicated by him to all employees.
In any case, after the end of the working hours, there should be abstinence from any work activity for 11 consecutive hours, as required by article 3 of Directive 2003/88/EU. Any disturbance by the employer to the employee during this time should be considered as interrupting the rest with the result that the 11 hours of compulsory rest will start again after the interruption.
In order to truly ensure the right to disconnect, any adverse treatment of the employee due to the exercise of the above right is expressly prohibited and specifically the termination is prohibited by the special provision of article 66 par. 1 of Law 4808/2021. In addition, the employee is protected from any indiscriminate or infringing methods of monitoring his performance. Employer control must be carried out in a manner compatible with the protection of personal data. The use of a video camera is expressly prohibited, as a means of control that violates privacy in particular.
Who else exercises the right to disconnect?
CNBC rounded up some other countries that have introduced the right to disconnect from work.
France
In 2017, France implemented its “right to disconnect” from work emails during non-working hours.
Companies with 50 or more employees are required to negotiate with employee representatives to decide when employees can be contacted via electronic communication methods. Failure to comply with the rules carries a fine of up to 1% of an employee’s total compensation.
France is known for having one of the most regulated labor markets in the developed world.
Belgium
Similarly, Belgium has since 2022 granted workers the right to ignore work-related messages after working hours.
While the regulation initially only applied to civil servants, the legislation was extended to private sector staff working in companies with 20 or more employees. Belgian employees also have a four-day work week.
Portugal
In Portugal, employers are prohibited from contacting employees after working hours. It is the so-called “right to rest”.
Workers are also entitled to at least 11 consecutive hours of “night rest”, during which they should not be disturbed unless it is an emergency.
Spain
Workers in Spain have the right to disconnect from work-related digital communications outside of designated working hours, with the aim of promoting a good work-life balance.
A nationwide campaign launched by the country’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is raising awareness of the initiative, highlighting employers’ obligations to facilitate a healthier digital workplace.
Ireland
Ireland has adopted a Code of Practice on the right to disconnect from the office outside working hours. The code gives employees the right not to deal with work matters outside of normal working hours, while imposing a duty on employers to respect the rights of their employees by not contacting them outside of designated hours.
The code extends to all modes of employment, from remote work to in-person work or the hybrid model.
Italy
For Italy, the legislation applies more specifically to teleworking. It states that any telecommuting agreement must specify designated rest periods and describe the measures necessary for the employee to be completely disengaged from work-related devices.
Next UK?
The UK also appears to be on track to adopt similar legislation.
A trade union, Prospect, found that nearly 60% of workers support the right to disconnect, according to a campaign they ran last September.
Although there is currently no formal right to disconnect from work in the UK, it is required that the working week does not exceed 48 hours on average over a 17-week period.