In THIS country employees can now ignore post-work calls and emails |

In an interesting new development, Australia is all set to introduce laws which will give employee the right to ignore post-work related calls and emails from their bosses without any penalty. It also proposes potential fines for employers for reaching out to workers after their working hours.
The “right to disconnect” is part of a raft of changes to industrial relations laws proposed by the federal government under a parliamentary bill, which it says would protect workers’ rights and help restore work-life balance, reported Reuters.The provision aims to give employees the right to stop unpaid and overtime work post their normal working hours.
Talking about the new proposed law, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters On February 7, “What we are simply saying is that someone who isn’t being paid 24 hours a day shouldn’t be penalised if they’re not online and available 24 hours a day.”
It is noted that Australia is not the only country to come up with the right to disconnect law. Other countries which have similar laws in place include France, Spain and among others in the European Union.
The law was first proposed by the left-wing Greens, who support this rule. Greens leader Adam Bandt posted on Twitter recently that a deal had been reached between the ruling Labor party, smaller parties, and independents to back this new bill in the parliament.
“Australians work an average of six weeks unpaid overtime each year… That time is yours. Not your boss,” Bandt said.

The idea of completely switching-off from work pot working hours seems like a much-needed and progressive move to create work-life balance. Sharing expert views on it and the need for such ‘Right to Disconnect’ laws in India too, Mansi Poddar, Trauma Sensitive Psychotherapist, told us, “The problem with India is that even thought most people understand the value of disconnection, very few follow boundaries and respect peoples after hours. The nature of work has become 24/7 due to availability on WhatsApp and email. In fact, people will message on personal Instagrams if they aren’t responded too. Most employees claims that this pressure and consistent boundary violation is more stressful than actually doing the work. They feel judged and often complain they are “passively punished” for not being available. Many are at the receiving end of jibes, low performance reviews, etc. It is important for companies to institute proper guidelines for after hour communication. Burnout is often the result of toxic work environments and unfair pressures.”
On being asked how one can have work-life balance in their life, Poddar further told us, “If one can, they should separate work and personal phones and make it clear that they will not engage post a certain hour unless they deem fit. But again, an individual can only do so much since most employees are afraid they will be let go if they make too many “demands” this has to be Instituted at a company level and employees protection must be at the forefront of such policies.”
(with inputs from Reuters)