It’s the Progressive Practice of the Week! This week we learn about an innovative amendment to Australian employment legislation about the right for workers to disconnect.
I am a drum and bass fan through and through (yes classic Millennial here) and one of my favourites at the moment is Disconnect by Becky Hill and Chase & Status.
And it looks like Australia is also set to disconnect.
The Australian Senate have this week passed the second Closing Loopholes bill, which includes a proposed amendment granting workers the right to disconnect.
This means that employees will have the right to refuse contact from their employer outside of working hours, unless the refusal is unreasonable.
To determine what is considered reasonable contact, factors include:
The reason for contact
The level of contact
Compensation
Role and responsibility
Employees’ personal circumstances
This is expected to benefit millions of Australian workers who are making themselves available but not currently being remunerated for this contribution, plus high workload is one of the most prevalent contributors to burnout, so enabling employees the right to disconnect will go in the direction of supporting reducing the occurrence and path to burnout.
This type of legislation has not yet been introduced in Aotearoa, nor does it look like it’s on the agenda for our new government. However this follows similar legislation introduced in France in 2017, and several European nations following France's lead. Other countries (including Kenya, India, Argentina, and the Philippines) have either implemented, or are considering establishing, such a right.
Read the full article here.
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