Australians can now legally disregard after-hours work calls and emails thanks to new government legislation that came into effect on Monday.
The legislation generally protects employees from being penalized if they choose not to read or respond to communications from their employers outside of work hours. This law has sparked criticism from business groups.
Advocates of the law argue that it empowers workers to push back against the increasing encroachment of work into their personal lives—a trend that has intensified since the COVID-19 pandemic blurred the lines between home and work. In 2023, Australians worked an average of 281 hours of unpaid overtime, according to a survey by the Australia Institute, which valued this unpaid labor at A$130 billion ($88 billion).
With these changes, Australia joins nearly two dozen other countries, mainly in Europe and Latin America, that have implemented similar protections.
France, the pioneer in this area, introduced the rules in 2017 and, a year later, fined pest control company Rentokil Initial 60,000 euros ($66,700) for requiring an employee to keep his phone on at all times.
