New survey finds 3 in 4 Australian employers support new legislation
A new poll from Indeed has revealed that 74% of employers in Australia support the new "right to disconnect" legislation despite grey areas in the law.
The new rule permits employees to refuse out-of-hours contact from their employer unless that refusal is unreasonable.
Employers in Indeed's poll believe that the following reasons warrant after-hours contact:
Employers' widespread support for the right to disconnect comes as 81% acknowledge that they risk losing top talent if they fail to respect employees' work boundaries.
But 47% are also wary that committing to the new legislation could lead to a drop in employee productivity, according to a new report.
As a result, 55% of employers surveyed said they were willing to pay an employee more in order to make after-hours contact, with the numbers rising to 71% for companies with 100 to 249 employees.
"Leaders and their teams should discuss and agree upon what constitutes reasonable after-hours contact, and if or when it should be compensated," said Amanda Gordon, Workplace Psychologist at Indeed, in a statement.
"If everyone is on the same page regarding what is deemed 'urgent' and warrants contact, the legislation will serve them well."
Meanwhile, the report also found that employers' fears of losing top talent are warranted - as 35% of employees said they would consider quitting if their right to disconnect is not respected.
This is already happening for many employees, as 65% said they have been contacted during personal and annual leave, as well as during public holidays.
To address issues regarding after-hours contact, employees said there should be:
"Regular out-of-hours contact can be very disruptive on employee downtime, health, and wellbeing. Having a boss who respects your non-work life has moved from being a nicety to a necessity," Gordon said.
"While there's still a lot of grey area surrounding Australia's new Right to Disconnect legislation, it's a positive step towards re-establishing work-life balance."
