Australian workers now have the right to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours contact from their boss under new workplace reforms that aim to set boundaries in an increasingly connected world.
Under the changes from August 26, eligible employees will have the right to ignore calls and emails outside of their rostered shifts.
This means an employee can refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from an employer or work-related third party outside work hours — when reasonable to do so.
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Whether the refusal is “unreasonable” would be determined by the reason for the contact, how it was made, how disruptive it is, whether the employee is compensated, and the nature of the employee’s role.
The Fair Work Commission says disputes should first be discussed and resolved at a workplace level, however, where unable to do so, parties can go to the commission, which can either make a stop order or mediate the dispute in other ways.
No criminal penalties will apply to employers who breach the incoming laws.
The ‘right to disconnect’ laws will apply to all businesses with 15 or more employees from Monday, or a year later for small businesses.
About 70 per cent of workers took calls or checked emails out of hours while one in three were expected to work outside of their scheduled hours, an Australian Services Union survey revealed earlier this year.
It also found half of all workers felt pressured to do so.
“Workers, as they’ve gone to having their own mobile phone over the last decades, have now waited too long just to know you don’t have to constantly be on call,” the former Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke previously told parliament in February.
“People have been waiting years for this moment, and it’s time for people to get those rights and to get those rights today.”
The right to disconnect was part of a broader package of measures, which also included greater rights for gig workers, as well as provisions for casual employees to transition into part-time or full-time employment.
– With AAP