Australian workers now have right to ignore work emails, after-hours calls By Reuters

By Lewis Jackson

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Does your boss text you at the weekend? Does your work email ping long after you’ve gone home?

Australian workers can now ignore those and other intrusions into their home lives, thanks to a new “right to disconnect” law designed to reduce the flow of emails and calls from work into their personal lives.

The new rule, which took effect on Monday, means that employees, in most cases, cannot be punished for refusing to read or respond to employers’ contacts outside of working hours.

Supporters say the law gives workers the confidence to stand up against the constant invasion of their personal lives by workplace emails, texts and calls, a trend that has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic has closed the divide between home and work.

“Before we had digital technology, there was no touch, people would go home at the end of a shift and have no contact until they came back the next day,” said John Hopkins, associate professor at Swinburne University of Technology.

“Now, globally, it’s the norm to have emails, texts, phone calls outside of these hours, even when you’re on vacation.”

Australians worked an average of 281 hours of unpaid overtime in 2023, according to a survey last year by the Australia Institute, which estimated the monetary value of work at A$130 billion ($88 billion).

The changes add Australia to a group of about two dozen countries, mostly in Europe and Latin America, that have similar laws.

Pioneer France introduced the rules in 2017 and a year later fined pest control firm Rentokil Initial 60,000 euros ($66,700) for requiring an employee to keep his phone on at all times.

Rachel Abdelnour, who works in advertising, said the changes will help her disconnect in an industry where clients often have different working hours.

“I think it’s actually very important to have laws like this,” she told Reuters. “We spend so much time connected to our phones, connected to our emails all day, and I think it’s really hard to stop as it is.”

REFUSALS MUST BE REASONABLE

To deal with emergencies and irregular hours, the rule still allows employers to contact their workers, who may refuse to respond only where it is reasonable to do so.

Determining whether a refusal is reasonable will depend on Australia’s industrial arbiter, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which must consider an employee’s role, personal circumstances and how and why the contact was made.

It has the power to issue a cease and desist order and, failing that, to levy fines of up to $19,000 for an employee or up to $94,000 for a company.

But the Australian Industry Group, an employers’ group, says ambiguity about how the rule applies will create confusion for bosses and workers. Jobs will become less flexible and thus slow down the economy, he added.

“The laws literally and figuratively came out of left field, were introduced with minimal consultation on their practical effect and left little time for employers to prepare,” the group said on Thursday.

Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil said the caveat built into the law meant it would not interfere with reasonable claims. Instead, it will prevent workers from paying the price for bad planning on the part of management, she said.

She cited an unidentified worker who finished a shift at midnight, only to receive a text message four hours later and was told to return to work by 6am.

“It’s so easy to make contact, common sense doesn’t apply anymore,” she said.

“We think this will make bosses stop and think about whether they really need to send that text or that email.”

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($1 = 1.4723 Australian dollars)