On Monday, the Fair Work Ombudsman announced employees can refuse to respond to work-related messages outside paid hours. The right to disconnect is similar to many other industrial relations rules around the globe. The law does not ban employers from contacting employees outside paid hours. But rather, it gives workers the right not to respond. This law comes in order to tackle, as the Australian Council of Trade Unions say, the “growing crisis of increasing mental health illness and injuries in modern workplaces.”.

Image: Image: Shutterstock – Chainarong06

Produced By: Jhames Montemayor

Featured In Story: Martijn Boersman – Associate Professor University of Sydney

First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 28 August 2024