Millions of Australians just got official permission to ignore their bosses outside of working hours, thanks to a new law enshrining their "right to disconnect."
The law doesn't strictly prohibit employers from calling or messaging their workers after hours. But it does protect employees who "refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact or attempted contact outside their working hours, unless their refusal is unreasonable," according to the Fair Work Commission, Australia's workplace relations tribunal.
That includes outreach from their employer, as well as other people "if the contact or attempted contact is work-related."
The law, which passed in February, took effect on Monday for most workers and will apply to small businesses of fewer than 15 people starting in August 2025. It adds Australia to a growing list of countries aiming to protect workers' free time.
"It's really about trying to bring back some work-life balance and make sure that people aren't racking up hours of unpaid overtime for checking emails and responding to things at a time when they're not being paid," said Sen. Murray Watt, Australia's minister for employment and workplace relations.
The law doesn't give employees a complete pass, however.
The law says a person's refusal to respond will be considered unreasonable under certain conditions, taking into account the seniority of the employee, their personal circumstances (including caregiving responsibilities), the reason for the contact, and how much disruption it causes them.
The FWC says employers and employees must first try to resolve any disputes on their own, but can apply to the FWC for a "stop order" or other actions if their discussions are unsuccessful.
"If it was an emergency situation, of course people would expect an employee to respond to something like that," Watt said. "But if it's a run-of-the-mill thing … then they should wait till the next work day, so that people can actually enjoy their private lives, enjoy time with their family and their friends, play sport or whatever they want to do after hours, without feeling like they're chained to the desk at a time when they're not actually being paid, because that's just not fair."
Protections aim to address erosion of work-life balance
The law's supporters hope it will help solidify the boundary between the personal and the professional, which has become increasingly blurry with the rise of remote work since the COVID-19 pandemic.
A 2022 survey by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute, a public policy think tank, found that seven out of 10 Australians performed work outside of scheduled working hours, with many reporting experiencing physical tiredness, stress and anxiety as a result.
The following year, the institute reported that Australians clocked an average of 281 hours of unpaid overtime in 2023. Valuing that labor at average wage rates, it estimated the average worker is losing the equivalent of nearly $7,500 U.S. dollars each year.
"This is particularly concerning when worker's share of national income remains at a historically low level, wage growth is not keeping up with inflation, and the cost of living is rising," it added.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions hailed the new law as a "cost-of-living win for working people," especially those in industries like teaching, community services and administrative work.
The right to disconnect, it said, will not only cut down on Australians' unpaid work hours but also address the "growing crisis of increasing mental health illness and injuries in modern workplaces."
"More money in your pocket, more time with your loved ones and more freedom to live your life — that's what the right to disconnect is all about," ACTU President Michele O’Neil said in a statement.
Not everyone is thrilled about the change, however.
Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton has already pledged to repeal the right to disconnect if his coalition wins the next federal election in 2025. He has slammed it as damaging to relations between employers and employees, and portrayed it as a threat to productivity.
The Business Council of Australia echoed those concerns in a statement released Monday, saying the new workplace laws "risk holding Australia's historically low productivity back even further at a time when the economy is already stalling."
"These laws put Australia's competitiveness at risk by adding more cost and complexity to the challenge of doing business, and that means less investment and fewer job opportunities," said Bran Black, the Business Council's chief executive.
The 2022 Australia Institute survey, however, found broad support for a right to disconnect.
Only 9% of respondents said such a policy would not positively affect their lives. And the rest cited a slew of positive effects, from having more social and family time to improved mental health and job satisfaction. Thirty percent of respondents said it would enable them to be more productive during work hours.
Eurofound, the European Union agency for the improvement of living and working conditions, said in a 2023 study that workers at companies with a right to disconnect policy reported better work-life balance than those without — 92% versus 80%.
Could the trend reach the U.S.?
Australia is far from the first country to adopt this kind of protection for workers.
More than a dozen countries — mostly across Europe and South America — have enacted a version of the right to disconnect in recent years, starting with France in 2017. Others are exploring various possible solutions to burnout, including the four-day workweek.
The right to disconnect hasn't reached the U.S. just yet.
A San Francisco assemblyman proposed legislation earlier this year — inspired by Australia — that would grant workers the right to disconnect outside of work, with violations punishable by fine.
It would make California the first state in the country to do so, but its future is uncertain. The bill was criticized by business groups and shelved in committee this spring.
Copyright 2024 NPR
