Australia says it is extending its laidback reputation to the workplace by granting employees a “right to disconnect” when they are off the clock.
Australian workers on Monday gained the legal right to ignore emails and phone calls from bosses outside of work hours, unless doing so is deemed “unreasonable”.
The law is Australia’s response to the blurring of boundaries between people’s professional and personal lives amid employers’ growing reliance on digital communications and the popularity of remote working since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia’s centre-left Labor Party hopes the measure – introduced as part of a package of labour reforms that includes new rules for casual employment and minimum wage standards for delivery riders – will ease pressure on workers to monitor their phone when they are supposed to be relaxing and spending time with their loved ones.
“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,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a news conference introducing the legislation in February.
Workplaces that breach the rules, which will be enforced by the country’s Fair Work Commission tribunal, face fines of up to 93,900 Australian dollars ($63,805).
Australia is not the first country to introduce a right to disconnect from work.
In 2017, France introduced legislation to protect workers from being punished for not replying to messages outside of work hours, while Germany, Italy and Canada have adopted similar measures.
But the perceived need for such a measure in Australia, the first country to introduce the eight-hour work day, sits uncomfortably with its international image as a “lucky country” full of sun-kissed beaches and easygoing people.
Despite Australia’s laidback image, researchers, experts and labour advocates argue the country is facing a growing culture of overwork.
