Bosses could face huge fines for disobeying new ‘disconnect’ laws

New ‘right to disconnect’ laws that come into force from today have been slammed by some business leaders, here’s why they’re worried.

Bosses have slammed new right to disconnect laws that come into force today warning workers could weaponise the changes and employers could face big fines.

The new laws, that apply to businesses with more than 15 people, deliver a new right for more junior employees to refuse contact, or to refuse to monitor their emails, if it’s outside of their working hours.

Rather than being a prohibition on an employer contacting or attempting to contact an employee however, the changes will allow workers to refuse that contact.

But the bad news for bosses is that they could have big fines of up to $18,000 as the maximum penalty for ignoring the new rules.

Speaking on the Today show, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Andrew McKellar said the changes were not necessary and likely to cause more problems than they solve.

Andrew McKellar said the changes were not necessary. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Look, I think it’s a big day, a nervous day for business,’’ he said.

“I think there is a lot of uncertainty out there about what these changes will mean.

“This is a solution looking for a problem, I mean, really there really was no rationale for this, and a lot of it should be just common sense.

“So our concern is, what we’ll see is in a number of cases, this will be used when the employment relationship is broken down. It’ll be another reason why there are claims or why there’s litigation.”

Unions have fought for years over the right to disconnect laws complaining the rise of mobile phones and email means work is encroaching into time off.

“What that basically means is your employer can’t harass you after work,” Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus said.

Sally McManus Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, backs the move. Picture: Liam Kidston

“So emails, calls … if they contact you, it’s got to be reasonable, and you’ve got a right not to respond.

“Not all employers, but some employers have completely blurred or just crossed over those boundaries and are expecting people to be connected and answer their emails and look at their phones, 24/7,” she added.

But Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume criticised the government’s “right to disconnect” legislation insisting that new laws allowing workers to ignore calls and texts from bosses out of work hours are “unreasonable”.

“Adding more rights for workers for something that is just part of a normal working relationship is unreasonable, particularly for small businesses here, who just need to go and get the job done,” she said.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt naturally backed the government’s changes, insisting the impact would depend on seniority.

The move is said to help bring back work-life balance. Picture: iStock

“What this is really about is trying to bring back a bit more work-life balance into people’s lives,” Watt told Sky News this morning.

“What we’re asking people to do is just have a bit of respect for people’s private life and recognise that they’re not being paid after-hours to take those calls.”

The Greens leader Adam Bandt is a big supporter of the changes insisting that nobody should remain on call to work 24-7.

“For too long, the boundaries between work and life have been blurred, continuous connection to work has been normalised and the pressure to be available at all hours of the day and night has been building for working people across the country,” Mr Bandt, said.

“With the proliferation of smartphones and advances in technology, work emails are only a notification away and a phone call from your boss can interrupt a night out with friends or family. Workers are often expected to be on call 24/7 to answer emails, take calls and be available to their employers at a moment’s notice. The Senate work and care committee described this phenomenon as ‘availability creep’.”

Originally published as Bosses could face huge fines for disobeying new ‘disconnect’ laws