To the dismay of big business, Australian workers are granted the legal ability to “disconnect” on Monday, August 26. This enables them to reject irrational workplace contact during non-business hours, reporter by Reuters.
Employers’ attempts to reach out to employees outside of work hours may now be “refused to monitor, read, or respond to” by the employee. Unless the refusal is deemed as “unreasonable”.
The law is comparable to that of other nations in Europe and Latin America.
Unions applauded the law, arguing that it allowed employees to regain some degree of work-life equilibrium.
“Today is a historic day for working people,” said Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
“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 unreasonable work calls and emails,” she stated.
“Australian unions have reclaimed the right to knock off after work.”
But the Australian business greeted the reforms with coolness.
“The ‘right to disconnect’ laws are rushed, poorly thought out and deeply confusing,” the Australian Industry Group said in a statement.
“At the very least, employers and employees will now be uncertain about whether they can take or make a call out of hours to offer an extra shift,” said the country’s peak industry group.
The law, which was passed in February, went into effect on Monday for both large and medium-sized businesses.
Beginning on August 26, 2025, smaller businesses with less than 15 employees will be protected.
“We encourage workplace participants to educate themselves on the right to disconnect and take a commonsense approach to applying it within their workplace,” said the head of Australia’s workplace relations regulator, Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth.
According to the law, employers may no longer unjustly require employees to answer. However, orkers may be ordered by a tribunal to cease unreasonable refusals of contact outside of regular business hours.
The Fair Work Ombudsman stated in a statement that the determination of what is acceptable will “depend on the circumstances”.
According to the report, determining criteria could include the purpose of the interaction, the nature of the employee’s employment, and also their pay for being available or putting in extra time.
France allowed people to disconnect in 2017 to combat the “always on” mentality of cellphones and other electronics.
