Australians can now ignore bosses after working hours

It’s standard for employers or senior executives to make phone calls or emails to employees after office hours to get work done. In such cases, it can be costly for employees to ignore their boss, and they may lose their jobs.

However, the Australian government has taken a revolutionary step for employees. It has introduced legislation that gives employees the legal right not to answer their employer’s calls or emails after office hours. The new law, dubbed the ‘Right to Disconnect’, was passed in February and will be effective nationwide starting today (August 26).

According to this law, employees are not bound to obey the orders of their officers or employers and answer their calls and messages after working hours. They have the right to disconnect their calls or not respond to emails, but no disciplinary action will be taken against them.

The law has been implemented in view of employers’ intrusion into people’s professional and personal lives, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with increasing reliance on methods such as digital communication and work from home.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, addressing a news conference, said, “If a worker is not paid 24 hours a day, he cannot be punished for being online 24 hours a day or available for office work.”

According to a report by the Australia Institute think tank, the average worker in Australia worked 5.4 hours of unpaid overtime a week last year, while workers aged 18 to 19 worked 7.4 hours.

Proponents of the law argue that employees are often physically out of the office but mentally in the office, as they constantly answer phone calls, emails, and texts while at home or with family. Sometimes, bosses’ or senior officials’ behaviour can cause severe stress among employees. Such calls disrupt their peace of mind, which can also lead to various diseases.

The right to disconnect from employers was first introduced in France in 2017 to protect workers from punishment for not answering calls after working hours. Later, more than 20 countries, including Spain, France, Ireland, and the Canadian province of Ontario, introduced similar policies.