‘Right to disconnect' law yet to be tested in courts

ABC NEWS (Australia)

While most Australians enjoy some time off at this time of year, not everyone fully disconnects from work. But there are hopes that will change after new laws gave workers the right to refuse contact outside of rostered hours.

Transcript

00:00Patients at this Adelaide clinic are often seeking help for work-related stress, something

00:10senior psychotherapist Rana Kirchner can understand.

00:14It's definitely hard at times to leave work at work.

00:19Since August, millions of workers have been given the right to disconnect, the ability

00:24to reasonably refuse contact, such as calls and emails, outside of work hours.

00:30For me personally, it definitely meant permission to do things like silencing emails, just actually

00:36getting rid of notifications altogether on my days off and on weekends.

00:40So far, not a single case has been heard by the industrial umpire, meaning people like

00:46Rana's boss are working it out with their staff.

00:50Increasingly, my responsibility is to role model what is good boundaries between work

00:55and home.

00:56I think we've seen, by and large, businesses and employees alike really embrace this right

01:02to disconnect.

01:04The laws came in response to the so-called digital leash of technology and the compulsion

01:10of employees to answer calls, texts and emails outside of paid hours.

01:16It's just saying hold off and give people a break when they are at home because we're

01:21seeing now this constant need to be connected.

01:25The legislation doesn't mean your boss can't contact you, just that you might not have

01:31to answer.

01:32It's just trying to give workers a reprieve in a way to say, hey, you're okay, you can

01:38actually have a break.

01:40Work-life balance is on the mind of all Australian employees and maintaining productivity is

01:45on the mind of all Australian employers.

01:48More people will soon get the right to disconnect.

01:51From August, employees at 2.5 million small businesses will be covered by the laws as

01:57well.

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