Australia gives millions of workers 'right to disconnect'

SYDNEY

Australia gave millions of workers the legal right to "disconnect" on Monday, allowing them to ignore unreasonable out-of-hours contact from employers, to the distress of big industry.

People can now "refuse to monitor, read, or respond to" their employers' attempts to contact them outside work hours, unless that refusal is deemed "unreasonable".

The law is similar to legislation in some European and Latin American countries.

Unions welcomed the legislation, saying it gave workers a way to reclaim a level of work-life balance.

"Today is a historic day for working people," said Michele O'Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

"Australian unions have reclaimed the right to knock off after work,” she said.

But the reforms got a cool welcome from Australian industry.

"The 'right to disconnect' laws are rushed, poorly thought out and deeply confusing," the Australian Industry Group said in a statement.

"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 the country's peak industry group.

The law, enacted in February, came into force for medium-sized and large companies as of Monday.

Smaller companies with fewer than 15 employees will be covered from Aug. 26, 2025.

Under the law, workers may be ordered by a tribunal to stop unreasonably refusing out-of-hours contact, and employers likewise may be ordered to stop unreasonably requiring employees to respond, it said.

The question of what is reasonable will "depend on the circumstances", the Fair Work Ombudsman said in a statement.