Unions have welcomed the new right-to-disconnect laws, which came into effect on 26 August which empower workers to refuse unreasonable out-of-hours work contact. This will have the effect of enabling greater work-life balance and reducing the burden of unpaid labour.
The new rights are expected to reduce the amount of unpaid work hours Australians currently perform, which the Australian Institute’s Centre for Future Work estimates at an average for each worker of 5.4 hours per week or 230 hours a year, equating to $131 billion in unpaid work annually. Full time workers work an average of 6.2 hours extra per week, equivalent to 7 weeks extra work!
The ACTU hails the new rights as a significant victory for workers across all industries, particularly those in jobs that face the expectation of constant availability, such as teaching, community services and administrative work.
The laws mean that most employees now have the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) from an employer (or third parties) outside of working hours, unless that refusal is unreasonable. At times, such as in an emergency, an employer can contact a worker after hours; and in some roles, some amount of after-hours contact will be reasonable. For employers with fewer than 15 employees, this law will not come in until 26 August 2025.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Opposition has pledged to roll back the laws if it wins the next election.
“Cost-of-living is the number one issue for working people. Peter Dutton’s pledge to abolish the right to disconnect would risk the end of the weekend,” said ACTU President, Michele O’Neil. “It would mean longer hours, lower wages, and more stress in workers’ lives. We deserve leaders who are on the side of working people instead of the pockets of big businesses.
“Abolishing the right to disconnect would mean the Coalition’s big corporate mates gaining more control over working people’s free time and the extraction of even more unpaid labour.”
Read more: ACTU media release Unions welcome new right-to-disconnect laws as a cost-of-living win Centre for Future Work media release Closing Loopholes Protections, Including Right to Disconnect, Come Into Effect 26 August Information from the Fair Work Ombudsman Right to disconnect and Right to disconnect fact sheet (fwc.gov.au)