Saying no to the boss the new frontier as disconnect law clicks in

Work is now so integrated into our lives, thanks to technology, that it may be hard to break the habits of a lifetime and decide not to answer a quick question or dig out a report online.

So, have a good weekend, but what’s your game plan for next Monday?

Will you turn on your out-of-office on your phone as you turn off the office computer at 5PM?

Have you already sorted the wording to add to your email signature making it clear that any direct reports who get a message from you after hours don’t have to respond?

Are you going to get on the front foot and let your boss know that from Monday you will only answer her calls or reply to her texts if you feel like it?

Or do you intend to disregard the federal government’s new right-to-disconnect laws and stick with BAU?

The changes to the Fair Work Act allowing workers to say no to unreasonable contact after hours are clear enough, but what’s not so easy to predict is how the law will play out at a time when the line ­between work and non-work is so blurred.

Some employees will exercise what is now a protected right under the act; but it’s likely many others will either choose to engage after hours or simply forget they now have an option to do so.

Work is now so integrated into our lives, thanks to technology, that it may be hard to break the habits of a lifetime and decide not to answer a quick question or dig out a report online. That’s especially the case when we know our time at work tomorrow will be much smoother if we spend a little time on it today.

Business argues that the law will slow operations, cause disquiet and ultimately affect productivity, but some advocates who pushed for the change see it as a marker of cultural change as much as a practical buffer against employers who expect workers to be on call 24/7.

The cultural shift is around encouraging us all to think twice about firing off an email to a professional colleague or contact; and on the other hand, about protecting ourselves from the addiction of work.

If it helps draw some lines around excessive workloads and improves the stress levels and mental health of workers, the change will be welcome. If, instead, it bogs everyone down in consultations about the definition of “reasonable contact” it might indeed become a barrier to efficiency.

There is also the chance that workers will find that not much will change. Customer success manager Sabrina Scherm at HR tech company HiBob is cautious about the way the legislation will work. For example, she said in a statement this week, the EU’s introduction of a 48-hour work week has been undermined by employers adding waiver clauses to contracts, which means employees can be asked to work longer hours.

Scherm is suggesting the same thing could happen with the disconnect law as companies move to change their contracts to provide for more contact hours.

It’s a two-way street, of course: just as candidates for jobs often make the right to work from home on some days of the week a part of their contract, so some will undoubtedly want the right to disconnect written into their deals.

The law follows the introduction in recent years of similar legislation overseas, although there are differences in the detail.

For example, here a company or manager can happily fire off emails or texts to a subordinate after hours without fear of prosecution. The power lies with the receiver who is entitled to simply ignore the messages without fear of punishment. But in Portugal, for example, it is illegal for the boss to make the call in the first place.

Under our law, the right to ask and the right to say no are both protected. It’s when a boss takes it further, for example by admonishing the staffer the next day or in any way suggesting he or she has failed their job description that the fun begins.

Disputes are supposed to be sorted in the workplace with employees always able to fall back on the right to disconnect if they feel cornered. If there is no compromise, then either side can take the case to the Fair Work Commission, which then has to decide who is being “reasonable” and who is not. A stop order, on one side or the other, is the next step and it’s when this is breached that an individual could face sanctions under a civil remedy that allows for a maximum of $19,800 in fines.

The new legislation will provide plenty of work for consultants, many of whom have done well in the Covid-19 and post-Covid periods as companies sought their help on hybrid work and related issues. Now that has more or less been settled; companies might not be happy with three days in the office, but they have policies and protocols in place to deal with disputes. Right to disconnect could well be the new frontier.

At least on paper, it is part of a workplace revolution which has put more power into the hands of workers.

Coming to terms with the reality that working from home, at least in some form, is here to stay has not been easy for many companies and managers because it involves changes to time-honoured ways of working. But the shift to hybrid shows that it is possible to create new systems that, over time, could benefit managers as well as their direct reports.

After all, if it becomes de rigueur for workers to truly down tools at 5pm, it will let the bosses off the hook too, given they will actually have no one to boss about after hours.