Australian senate passes Right To Disconnect law
theregister.com
theregister.com
I also came across a proposed 2023 amendment called Right To Disconnect, but the status is recorded as Not Proceeding. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislat...
Either way, my searches aren't finding anything changed this year.
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislat...
Of note is that the Government will be moving to pass legislation to amend it again this week, after inadvertently leaving in criminal penalties for those in breach of the 'right to disconnect'.
My only knowledge of Australian government comes from the TV show Utopia but this seems entirely on brand.
This news is a welcome win for labour laws.
Union membership is at an all time low
Workchoices in 2006 and Murdoch’s associated anti-union campaigning really did a number on the Union movement here in Aus
It makes it an offence for a business to penalise employees, either in their career or by firing for not responding that email.
Then theres self reporting to the government department of fairwork (https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/compliance-and-enforcem...) which then leads to action being taken in a % of cases and sets an example.
The opposition refused to allow an ammendment that removed criminal penalties.
Their leader delibrately played politics and knowingly chose to keep an obvious and acknowledged mistake in play for the next election cycle rather than fix it here and now.
Those who exclaim they may not be contacted outside of “work hours” will soon find others who are willing to work longer and harder and will be the ones who get the raises and promotions. The result of competition and ambition.
You cannot stop ambition. You cannot tell people they cannot complete.
Because employers will likely seek to replace large swathes of employees e.g. developers, lawyers, accountants with AI when it reaches that point. And collective bargaining will be the only mechanism for employees to fight back.
And this isn't hyperbole because we saw with the Hollywood writer's strike that studios were getting ready for this future today.
Given that i'm bootstrapping with no investors as yet, AI has filled all of these gaps to the point where I have a good base to keep building on. All without hiring a single employee. Also i'm based in Australia.
Your work hours are defined in your contract that you sign when you accept a role, no matter the industry.
It should. I'd expect that unreasonable after-hours work is already not an option (which is why I think this law is stupid, I'm pretty sure we're just adding administrative red tape to ban something that is already illegal - it isn't reasonable to expect someone to work when they aren't being paid). In practice you're planning on tolerating an illegal activity in an attempt to get an advantage over your workmates.
People are a bit weird about the law. You aren't supposed to use one comment to simultaneously advocate legally banning a practice and suggest you will be engaging in it.
She wouldn’t mind if I ignored her call after hours because I was at the pub :)
And I'd encourage your boss not to do that if I were you. It was already bad practice and there isn't any point in her taking legal risks.
It's the same principle as not requiring unpaid overtime to get ahead etc. The government sets a regulatory framework, and businesses have to compete within the rules.
Criminal penalties were included due to a clerical error that copypasta'd clauses from elsewhere.
The opposition refused to allow an ammendment that removed those "aggressive criminal penalties" that have upset you.
Blame Dutton for playing politics and knowingly choosing to keep an obvious and acknowledged mistake in play for the next election cycle rather than fix it here and now.
You don't need to be contacted after hours for bullshit; and using the excuse of "ambition" shows why these laws need to exist: Some managers don't understand healthy boundaries.
Nobody is saying that you can't be contacted outside of standard 9-5 work hours. Only that employees and employers need to mutually agree on it. Because unpaid overtime is completely unacceptable and is no way a prerequisite for ambition.
That's not how things work in the real world.
I assure you, the asshole wont give raises to people who already do whatever they say. I mean why? What would be the point to give people money for no reason?
I have this picture in my head of a programmer failing to be productive because they are constantly interrupted by their boss. Then, in the middle of the night he calls to ask something stupid that could have waited till the morning. The next morning they sit at their desk all zoned out, trying to gather the monumental will needed to start the same task for the 15th time. They gaze at the wall for 30 min and the phone rings again. Now he wants to know when it will be finished. They want to tell him to leave them the fuck alone but in stead they say 1-2 weeks knowing the task should take about a day. They hang up the phone and casually browse the web looking for a new job. Oh? open floor plan, nope, this one is not for me either... The boss is like, I'm going to replace this guy with someone better!, fluffs his pillow and turns over.