So-called “right to disconnect” laws are in place across the nation, but will they make a difference to how workplaces and employees operate?
In a nutshell, the legislation allows employees the right to ignore interaction from their employee, or a third party, outside of their work hours unless there is an exceptional circumstance.
The legislation itself is open to interpretation.
According to the Fair Work Commission, the nature of the contact, the current work agreement, and the employee’s role and circumstances, are just a few factors that come into play in determining if switching off is suitable.
Meaning this is not a hard-and-fast rule, but more a guideline that seems to push a conversation on what is and isn’t acceptable in the workplace.
Associate Professor Says Law Could Spark Important Conversations
University of Melbourne Associate Professor Brock Bastian said that if employees were already activating the law, then they were already in troubled waters.
“If people are feeling like they’re being forced to work outside of hours, organisations aren’t going to get the best out of people,” the director of Psychological Safety Australia, told The Epoch Times.
“Hopefully [the law is] a good reminder of best practice at all levels.
“If it is left up to the employee to have to use this as a defence mechanism, we are already losing.
Perhaps a Cure for Increased Connectivity
Luke Booker, PhD candidate at the Griffith Business School, shared a similar view that workplaces needing a legal remedy were already struggling.“If an employee feels the need to approach their manager and refer to the recent legislation to assert their right to disconnect, then that is indicative that the culture around connectivity expectations is not in a healthy state,” he told The Epoch Times.
“Employees who are expected to remain online around-the-clock and sacrifice their family and personal interests for work experience a variety of negative outcomes.
“The most prominent I can think of are what researchers refer to as ‘work-life conflict’ and disruptions to one’s psychological detachment from work.”
Psychological detachment is an important process for employees and can help maintain mental wellbeing and sleep quality.
Booker said he believed the new legislation would ultimately have a positive impact on worker well-being, but the tricky question was: how much?
“I imagine that in extreme cases, where Fair Work are required to intervene, the legislation will provide grounds for important interventions to remedy the problem within that specific case and organisation. This will undoubtedly have a high level of positive impact for that particular individual,” he said.
“Speaking in a broader sense, the legislation should provide a spark for teams and organisations to begin important discussions about the ingrained—and usually implicit—expectations for how connected we should be, and the negative ramifications of this.
Stiff Fines for Failure to Follow Law
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth says workplaces should take on the new rule with a commonsense approach, referring bosses and managers to employees and unions for guidance.“All modern awards now include a ‘right to disconnect’ term. This means that specific rules are now in awards for how the new right applies to different industries and occupations,” she said.
“Like most employment matters, any dispute should first be discussed and sought to be resolved at the workplace level.
“If that resolution does not occur, the Fair Work Commission can deal with disputes regarding the right to disconnect.”
The Commission will be able to make an order, or deal with a dispute as it considers appropriate, to resolve a dispute.
The Commission can make any orders it considers appropriate, other than requiring payment of a pecuniary amount and would have the power to enforce penalties of up to $18,780 for individuals or $93,900 for body corporates per contravention of a Commission order.
The rule does not work the other way, however, and employees can still contact their employers out of hours.
