Labor seeks crossbench support through “right to disconnect”

Workers could be able to ignore calls from bosses or colleagues after hours without fear of retribution under a proposed change to the Albanese government’s controversial industrial relations laws.

Labor is prepared to grant employees the right to ignore after hours work calls and emails rather than punish bosses for contacting staff, as it seeks crossbench support to ram controversial industrial relations laws through parliament.

The federal government is poised to add a so-called “right to disconnect” to its Closing Loopholes bill as part of a deal with the Greens, but reports of this including fines for employers who contacted employees outside work hours sparked instant backlash from business groups.

Crossbench Senators have also taken issue with the “rushed” measure, and as negotiations continued Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke on Tuesday indicated Labor was open to limiting the right to disconnect to giving employees to ignore contact.

Mr Burke said it was “completely reasonable” for employers to send employees emails out of hours and to contact them for shifts but that increased connectivity had created a problem for workers.

Instead of fining employers he said there could be “an absolute ban on there being a penalty on the worker for disengaging.

Leader of the House Tony Burke during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

“So if the worker … decides they’re not going to have their phone with them … then absolutely no penalty can be brought against them,” Mr Burke told ABC radio.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said national businesses could grind to a halt if they are not allowed to email employees operating in different time zones.

“Everyone deserves to be able to switch off at home, though it’s really important to get the balance right here given people are now wanting more flexibility and to work different hours and in different ways,” he said.

He said the government needed to provide more detail on the amendment. He pushed for a “balanced middle ground” that allows workers to switch off without being penalised rather than “fining companies for undertaking their normal business activities.”

Labor’s contentious IR bill also includes tougher standards for pay and conditions for gig economy workers such as Uber Eats drivers and rules to make it easier for casuals to become permanent.

UberEats driver in Sydney's Newtown. Picture: Damian Hofman

In a joint statement the chief executives of the Australian Chamber of Commerce, Business NSW and seven state and territory chambers warned the new laws would cost the jobs of the very people they are designed to protect.

The statement from business leaders warns that the legislation will burden small business owners with more expenses when they are already under “significant pressure from rapidly rising costs” and result in job losses.

“Small business owners are already subject to a bewildering array of bureaucratic constraints, and this legislation will further bind them in red tape,” it said.

“The Greens’ amendments have not been subject to any scrutiny or consultation and were not on the table when the Senate committee held hearings around Australia late

last year,” the statement said.

It warned the amendments would also give too much power to union officials, lead to extended bargaining disputes and the effective re-establishment of the “disastrous” Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.
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Originally published as Labor seeks crossbench support through “right to disconnect”