Right-to-disconnect law bad for productivity and prosperity

Set against the reality of modern workplaces, the unsophisticated debate over the right to disconnect shows a poor grasp of many people’s productive working lives.

Labor leaders, including Anthony Albanese, have long tried to distance themselves from the Greens, who they recognise are a threat in some seats. They also should steer clear of the Greens’ destructive policies. The Greens, on the other hand, like to portray themselves as more than the protest party that they are, talking up the idea of pushing Labor to be more “progressive”. Adam Bandt and his team, unfortunately, won the battle over the specious issue of “right to disconnect” industrial laws. And the Prime Minister, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke and ACTU secretary Sally McManus rode along on their coat-tails. Disconnecting at the weekend, as Tom Dusevic writes, will not up-end our $2.5 trillion economy. But it will slow Australia’s transition to being a stronger, more productive and prosperous nation. Adding another layer of complexity to Labor’s rigid, backward-looking hotchpotch of industrial relations changes will result in workplaces constricted by red tape and centralised “one size fits all” rules, with adverse consequences for staff and employers.

Workers stand to be big losers, with the right to disconnect likely to diminish the flexibility many staff currently enjoy to the benefit of their lifestyles, families and employers. Much could change, with bosses warning, as they are entitled to do, that under the new regime they will be forced to end flexible working ­arrangements that allow employees to leave early to pick up ­children or attend appointments during work hours. Such provisions are best made in individual workplaces between employers and staff to suit the needs of enterprises and individual workers. Flexibility, however, is the antithesis of the government’s overhaul of workplace laws in its desire to impose a more centralised, union-controlled system.

The fact more than 70 per cent of public servants in Mr Burke’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations – responsible for redesigning the nation’s workplace laws – disconnected from the office last year and 1355 people signed formal remote working agreements is a sign of how much workplaces have changed. The figure for public servants in the Treasury is similar. The transformation was hastened in recent years during the Covid-19 pandemic, when work continued at home of necessity and many organisations – corporate, small business and government – upgraded their IT systems and communications networks to safeguard efficiency and facilitate change.

Many workplaces were well positioned for the transition. Reforms to industrial relations that began with the Prices and Incomes Accord in the Hawke-Keating era 40 years ago, and that were built on and improved by the Howard government, created trust and a better bargaining environment between employers and workers. The flexibility they provided widened the scope for more people – especially parents or grandparents of young children, older workers and those caring for elderly or disabled relatives – to do their jobs, which, depending on the industry, could include being contacted out of hours. Many recognise that as a sign they are valued by their bosses and colleagues.

Set against the reality of modern workplaces, the unsophisticated debate over the issue shows a poor grasp of many people’s productive working lives. Greens senator Barbara Pocock, for example, claims Peter Dutton wants to “end the weekend” by promising to repeal the right to disconnect laws: “He wants people at their barbecues to be taking those phone calls and rushing home to answer the email.” Really? The debacle in the Senate when Labor inadvertently supported the Greens’ push for criminal penalties, including jail, for employers who broke the disconnect law is expected to be overturned in coming months. But the potential of the law to undermine productivity and destroy the flexibility that staff value should make Labor more wary about letting the Greens get their hands on economic policy levers in future.