‘Harassing’: 31yo boss slams working trend
Workers now have the right to disconnect from work but one boss reveals the “harassing” trend she discovered.
At Work
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Australian workers are now legally allowed to ignore tests, calls and emails from their bosses outside of working hours.
While some bosses are panicking over the new rules, one young boss reckons it is about time.
Since August 26, workers nationwide have been entitled to the “right to disconnect” outside of work hours.
Millennial boss Brittney Saunders said it should be “common sense” not to contact employees unnecessarily outside of work hours.
Ms Saunders, 31, lives in Newcastle, has over 60 employees, runs five retail stores, and has an eight-figure business empire.
The 31-year-old, who is entirely self-made and also hosts a podcast calledBig Business, said employees shouldn’t be “harassed” by their employers in their own time.
“I just know how impactful this legislation is going be for those employees who are constantly harassed by their boss or manager,” she told news.com.au.
“Being expected to take work home with them or being asked questions that could absolutely wait until tomorrow.”
Ms Saunders said employers who are annoying staff outside of hours to get work done should examine their business model.
“Based on the stories I’ve heard, there are a lot of bosses who absolutely take advantage of their staff, and it’s simply not on,” she said.
“Any boss who believes that by not being able to contact their staff at any given time will hinder their business needs to seriously take a look at their business model and perhaps look at expanding their team.”
The 31-year-old boss said that employees should be able to clock off and not have to think about it again until they are back working.
“It’s up to us as business owners to be able to keep the business running smoothly in the absence of staff and, if it’s needed, roster other people on during those after-hours to avoid needing to contact anyone else in their personal time,” she said.
Ms Saunders, who has over 500,000 Instagram followers, put a call-out on her Instagram about the legislation and asked if anyone had a boss who was angry about it. She said the responses blew her away.
“There are so many managers and bosses out there who constantly harass their employees once they have left work for the day, expecting them to take a bucket load of work home with them because of deadlines,” she said.
Ms Saunders said so many people replied and said they were not being “left alone” when on overseas holidays or taking personal leave.
“This is a mentality that 100 per cent needs to be thrown in the bin,” she said.
The young business owner said she’s not afraid of hustling for her business, but she doesn’t expect her employees to.
“Employees should absolutely not be hustling outside of work hours to ensure someone else’s business is running smoothly. Our office hours are 8am to 4pm, and after 4pm, I don’t contact anyone,” she said.
“There’s been a few occasions where I have sent some of my staff an email at night (for them to read and reply to the next day), and they’ve replied straight away on their phone, and I’ve said get off your emails.”
Ms Saunders said this should be normal, but she knows some bosses expect “immediate” responses from workers outside of hours, and expectation she called “wild.”
“Business owners and bosses need to respect their employees and understand that they have every right to switch off and forget about work,” she said.
“My fear is that a lot of businesses aren’t set up this way leaving the employees no choice but to feel like they’re on the clock when they aren’t at all.”
Ms Saunders said if you want to get the best out of your staff, hounding them isn’t the answer.
“I could write a novel on the best ways to get the best performance out of your employees, but if I had to put it in a nutshell, I’d say: have a clear outline of their role, responsibilities and job description,” she advised.
“Communicate with them to see how they’re handling their workload, offer assistance if it’s ever needed. Be good at recognising when a new hire is needed. When you can tell someone or a certain team is becoming flooded with work or that they’re scrambling to get everything done in a day — know that that’s when you need to make that next hire,” she said.
“Treat your employees like they are human. Our businesses are absolutely nothing without our employees, and I think a lot of business owners forget this.”
The right to disconnect law isn’t a blanket rule that you can ignore your boss outside of work hours.
However, it means employees will have the right to refuse contact outside of their working hours, along with the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from an employer or third party.
Several factors need to be considered before turning your phone on “do not disturb” or muting all emails from your boss.
These include the reason for the contact, how the contact is made, how disruptive it is to the employee, and their personal circumstances, such as family or caring responsibilities.
Another factor is whether the worker is being compensated or paid extra to be available to be contacted within a specific period or for working additional hours outside of their ordinary work.
The nature of the employee’s role and level of responsibility within the business also need to be considered when determining whether their refusal is reasonable.
Any disputes about an employee’s right to disconnect that cannot be resolved at the workplace can be referred to the Fair Work Commission.
Originally published as ‘Harassing’: 31yo boss slams working trend
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