What are employers saying about it?
The new "right to disconnect" law has begun taking effect in Australia this week despite widespread opposition from employers.
The right to disconnect provisions enable employees to refuse out-of-hours contact from their employer unless that refusal is unreasonable.
It has begun taking effect for most workplaces since Monday, but implementation for smaller businesses is scheduled for August 26, 2025.
The law has been met with widespread opposition from employers from before the law was introduced until its implementation.
'Deeply confusing' laws
The Ai Group, Australia's national employer association, slammed the right to disconnect laws as "rushed, poorly thought out, and deeply confusing."
"At the very least, employers and employees will now be uncertain about whether they can take or make a call out of hours to offer an extra shift," said Innes Willox, chief executive of the Ai Group, in a statement.
Andrew McKellar, chief executive officer of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, echoed similar sentiments on the law.
According to McKellar, the term "unreasonable" remains undefined in the legislation.
"There's a lot of uncertainty. Until we see some of those claims emerging until we see some cases coming forward in the commission or in the courts, then really, it's going to be up to them," McKellar told the Today Show.
The CEO, however, noted that a lot of it "should be commonsense."
"We really don't need to have laws and regulation in this space because 98% of businesses are going to do the right thing and they're going to work very cooperatively with their employees so just to get the balanced outcome," he said.
Cost-of-living win
Amid employer opposition, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) welcomed the right-to-disconnect laws as a cost-of-living win for employees.
"The right to disconnect is a cost-of-living win. The average person does five to six hours of unpaid work every week. Thanks to the introduction of this new law, Australians can now be paid for those hours of work," ACTU president Michele O'Neil said in a statement.
Employees, in previous polls, also said they are happy to ignore their employers after their working hours.
Robert Half's survey among 1,000 full-time office workers found that 92% are expecting positive impact due to the right to disconnect laws.
Nicole Gorton, director at Robert Half, said the new laws will require a "shift in mindset and communication" practices among organisations.
"For those businesses who rely heavily on after-hours availability, there will be increased focus on delivering more efficient and streamlined operations," Gorton said in a previous statement.
In addition to the right to disconnect laws, other workplace reforms that begun taking effect in Australia this week include changes to casual employment, provisions for employee-like workers, among others.
