A LAW in which employers can no longer require their employees to respond after work hours has already taken effect in Australia.

Under the right to disconnect law, which took effect on August 26, employees cannot be punished for ignoring their bosses especially after work hours, a report by Reuters said.

In a study conducted by Australia Institute last year, it revealed that Australians worked on average 281 hours of unpaid overtime.

The study also estimated the monetary value of the labor at A$130 billion ($88.30 billion).

However, the rule still allows employers to contact their workers to cater for emergencies and jobs with irregular hours.

Employees can only refuse to respond where it is reasonable to do so.

It will be Australia’s industrial umpire to determine whether a refusal is reasonable.

They must also take into account their role, personal circumstances and how and why the contact was made.

Australia is now among the roughly two dozen countries which have similar laws.

In 2017, it was France that pioneered such rules and a year later fined Rentokil Initial 60,000 euros ($67,250) for requiring an employee to always have his phone on.(CMM)

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• #Australia
• #Right to Disconnect Law
• #France
• #Labor Rights