08/26/2024

Australia Gives its Workers the 'Right to Disconnect'

The new law allows workers to ignore calls, emails after hours

Australians can now legally ignore unreasonable after-hours work calls and emails under new government legislation that came into effect on Monday, drawing criticism from business groups.

Under the laws, employers face fines of up to A$93,000 ($63,000) for contacting an employee for non-essential reasons outside of working hours.

"Just as people don’t get paid 24 hours a day, they don’t have to work for 24 hours a day," said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday, adding that he expected the changes to boost productivity.

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.