Australia: 'Right to Disconnect' From Work Introduced
Australia granted millions of employees the legal right to disconnect on Monday, allowing people to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours emails and phone calls from their employers....
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Facts
- Australia granted millions of employees the legal right to disconnect on Monday, allowing people to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours emails and phone calls from their employers.[1]
- Australia's Senate passed the legislation in February, which outlined that the reason, nature of work, and compensation were key factors in determining if contacting workers outside of work hours was reasonable.[2]
- So far, the law has only come into effect for medium and large companies. Smaller businesses with fewer than 15 employees will be subject to the right from Aug. 22, 2025, while people who earn over $175K are not entitled to the right.[3][4]
- Employers aren't currently banned from contacting workers after hours. However, firms contacting employees unreasonably after work will be fined up to $63K. Australia's Fair Work Commission will be in charge of deeming if contact is unreasonable.[5][6]
- Reportedly, the law is Australia's attempt to address the invasion of workers' personal lives by employers since COVID. According to the Australia Institute, employees in the nation performed an average of 5.4 hours unpaid work each week in 2023.[7][1]
Sources: [1]Al Jazeera, [2]Dw.Com, [3]Abc, [4]Firstpost, [5]Time, [6]BBC News and [7]Reuters.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by The University of Sydney. The right to disconnect will rid Australians of 'availability creep,' where employees are expected to work outside office hours. This trend, exacerbated by smartphones and remote work during COVID, has led to significant unpaid overtime and mental and physical health issues. The law will restore work-life balance and protect employees from unpaid labor.
- Narrative B, as provided by ICLG. This law will reduce workplace productivity, potentially by disrupting the existing consensus on workplace flexibility. There are concerns about the law's lack of clarity, as well as its potential negative impacts on employment opportunities and employer-employee relationships.
