The union has called on the Albanese government to “hold employers accountable” for proper staffing and planning to minimise out-of-hours contact.
Under the bill, workers can refrain from engaging in work-related communication outside of working hours while employers need to compensate employees for working out of hours or potentially face penalties.
The bill, which was rushed through the senate in February in a last-minute deal with the Greens and crossbench, has faced pushback from the Opposition and business groups, which argued the change would add more “unnecessary complexity and rigidity” to the workplaces.
“The existence of a right to disconnect would be of little or no utility at all if the workplace is organised in such a way as to be reliant on contacting employees when they are not working in order to function,” it said in a draft submission.
“For this reason, we include … a consideration of whether the employer has taken reasonable steps to eliminate or minimise the need to contact the worker when they are not working.”
About 70 percent of workers took calls or checked emails out of hours while one in three were expected to work outside of their scheduled hours, an Australian Services Union survey revealed.
ACTU President Michele O’Neil said the right to disconnect is “an important part of addressing cost-of-living, because people deserve to be paid wages for every hour they work.”
“Changes in technology and work arrangements cannot be used to undermine the right to be paid for the work you do and to have the right to disconnect.”
Disconnect Laws ‘Impractical’: Business Group
Meanwhile, the Business Council of Australia (BCA) argued in its submission that preventing employers from contacting workers out of hours would reduce flexibility, increase complexity and costs, and “do nothing to improve workplace productivity.”It said the changes “add unnecessary complexity and rigidity to Australia’s workplace relations system at a time when enterprises need flexibility to adapt to the economy environment and the requirements of customers, to remain competitive.”
“Putting additional requirements in place will hinder the ability of businesses to work with their employees to design arrangements that suit both parties,” the BCA’s submission read.
The BCA added that the government should leave the task of finding the solutions to enterprises as government’s intervention “risks being stuck with a ‘one size fits all’ approach.”
Jessica Tinsley, workplace relations director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the right to disconnect law should not add a burden to businesses or include rigid definitions.
“Flexibility and choice should be core components, enabling both employers and employees to negotiate specific terms as needed,” she said.
“ACCI advocates for a flexible, broad approach to the right to disconnect, ensuring it empowers employees without unnecessarily burdening employers.”
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox has described the law as “impractical” as it would “simply add unwarranted conflict and uncertainty into our workplaces.”
“These changes were unfortunately added into the mix at the last moment, without being properly thought through, with a view to securing the Greens’ support for the passage of the rest of the legislation.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has previously promised to repeal the change at the next federal election, adding that the Coalition would take a policy that’s provides support to workers without making it impossible for small businesses to employ staff.
“If you think it’s okay to outsource your industrial relations or your economic policy to the Greens, which is what the prime minister is doing, then we are going to see a continuation of the productivity problem in our country,” Mr. Dutton told Sky News in February.
