Australia used to be highly renowned for its comfortable, relaxed atmosphere, which made it a great place to live or work. It was not typical to work at the high tempo and strain levels seen in Shanghai and Hong Kong. However, this is no longer the case due to the ever-expanding economic linkages with the APAC area, especially with Mainland China and Hong Kong, over the past 20 years, and Australian workplaces are becoming more and more like those in the financial hubs of Shanghai and Hong Kong. At the very least, this is true of Australia’s major financial and commercial centres, Sydney and Melbourne.
Fortunately, and with Australian support, the government of Australia appears committed to restoring the work-life balance for Australians, as seen by the recent legislation providing Australians with the “right to disconnect.” The new legislation granting Aussies the so-called right to disconnect passed both houses of the Parliament, and is awaiting royal assent, which will see the bill becoming law six months thereafter.
In essence, the right to disconnect gives Australian workers the freedom to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from their employer after office hours, “unless the rejection is unreasonable.” Therefore, the employee’s behavior—rather than the employer’s decision to initiate contact—is what sets off this situation. How will the employees know when a denial will be unreasonable?
When evaluating whether a refusal is unreasonable, a variety of considerations must be taken into account. These include, for example, the purpose and method of the contact, the degree of disturbance it causes, whether the worker is compensated for being on call, the nature of their employments and degree of responsibility, and lastly their personal situation.
After the new law is passed, you can always get in touch with us if you have any questions about your right to disconnect.
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