Starting today, 26 August, millions of workers in Australia will have a legal right to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours communications from their employers.
Workers in the "land of Kangaroos" can now "opt out" of what they consider "unreasonable" attempts to contact them outside of working hours, a law similar to those in several European and Latin American countries.
Unions in Australia have welcomed the new laws, saying they give workers a way to regain work-life balance.
“Today is a historic day for working people,” said Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. “The union movement has won the legal right for Australians to spend quality time with their loved ones without the stress of constantly answering unreasonable work calls and emails.”
"Australian unions have taken back the right to rest after work," Ms O'Neil declared.
Millions of workers in Australia are starting to enjoy the right to disconnect, allowing them to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours communications from their employers. Photo: Geo News
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised the reforms pushed by his centre-left Labor government. "We want to make sure that people are not paid 24 hours a day, so they don't have to work 24 hours a day," Mr Albanese told national broadcaster ABC.
"Frankly, it's also a mental health issue, when people are able to disconnect from work and spend time connecting with their families and their personal lives," the Australian Prime Minister said.
On the other end of the spectrum, Australian industry leaders have been lukewarm to the reform. The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), the country’s leading industry association that has been working on behalf of businesses for 150 years, said the so-called “Right to Disconnect” legislation was rushed, ill-considered and “very confusing”.
“At the very least, employers and employees will now be uncertain about whether they can pick up or call in overtime to request additional shifts,” Ai Group said in a statement.
The law, introduced in February, will come into effect for medium and large Australian companies from August 26 this year. For smaller companies with fewer than 15 employees, the law will come into effect from August 26 next year.
“We encourage workplace participants to educate themselves about the right to disconnect and apply this right appropriately in their workplace,” said Australia’s head of workplace relations, Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth.
By law, employees can be ordered by a court to stop unreasonably refusing to make contact outside of work hours. Similarly, employers can be ordered to stop requiring employees to answer unreasonable phone calls.
The question of what is reasonable will "depend on the circumstances", Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said in a statement.
Determining factors may include the reason for the contact, the nature of the employee's role and their rate of pay for overtime or attendance, according to the law.
France introduced the right to disconnect in 2017, hoping to tackle the problem of smartphones and other digital devices always being on.
Minh Duc (According to Malay Mail)
Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/ngay-lich-su-doi-voi-nguoi-lao-dong-o-xu-so-kangaroo-204240826114439365.htm
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