The facts about Australia's new 'right to disconnect' law for employees

By Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian employees now have the right to ignore their bosses outside working hours thanks to a new law which enshrines the "right to disconnect."

Here are key facts about the law, which came into force on Monday:

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

Employers will still be able to contact their workers, however staff will now have the right not to respond outside working hours unless that refusal is unreasonable.

This means an employee can refuse to monitor, read or respond to contacts from an employer or a third party such as a client.

It will be up to Australia's industrial umpire, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), to decide whether a refusal is unreasonable or not. In doing so, it must take into account factors like the employee's role, the reason for the contact and how it is made.

WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES?

Employers and employees must first try and resolve disputes at work. If that fails, the FWC can intervene.

The FWC can order a company to stop contacting an employee or bar it from taking disciplinary action against workers who refuse contact, according to the Australian Industry Group.

However, it can also order an employee to respond to an employer in cases where their refusal is not reasonable.

Contravening such an order could result in fines of up A$19,000 ($12,764) for an employee or up to A$94,000 for a company.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE?

The law has been welcomed by unions and rights groups, who say new rights for workers are overdue.

But it has drawn criticism from employer associations who say the legislation is flawed and was rushed into law. They say it could harm productivity.

DO ANY OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE SIMILAR LAWS?

Similar laws giving employees a right to switch off their devices are already in place in France, Germany and other countries in the European Union and Latin America.

In 2018, Rentokil Initial was ordered to pay 60,000 euros by a French court for breaching an employee's 'right to disconnect' from work, after requiring him to constantly have his phone turned on in case of emergencies, according to The Telegraph.

($1 = 1.4885 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Kim Coghill)