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Comment by batiudrami | Hacker News Reader

This same argument can be used about all workers’ rights but as an Australian I am extremely glad for the rights we have and am happy to see them extended. This law isn’t going to make me stop taking calls from my boss after 5pm, but I am glad that it will be there as a fallback if I am ever in a position where my manager is abusing that privilege.

Your work hours are defined in your contract that you sign when you accept a role, no matter the industry.

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> This law isn’t going to make me stop...

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.

I take my bosses calls after work because I like her, and she is very busy and I know it is a convenient time for her.

She wouldn’t mind if I ignored her call after hours because I was at the pub :)

So if we talk about standards, "my boss can call me out of hours when it is convenient for them and I will make a spot judgement about my availability" appears to be the standard you work to. Which is cool. A little looser than my preferred standard but hey; everyone is a little different. But the law now seems to be that this is illegal and you can launch some sort of action against your company for engaging in this activity. With, for a brief moment, criminal penalties for the the people involved. That seems to me like either a stupid law or a poorly thought out one.

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.

I believe the new legislation says, if GP were to be punished for not being available for such a call, that'd be illegal and they could launch some sort of action. This seems totally compatible with GP's policy; boss can call them outside hours, GP can respond, if GP doesn't respond there's no consequences.

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