Australians now have legal right to ignore work calls, emails after hours

People can now refuse to monitor, read, or respond to their employers’ attempts to contact them outside work hours – unless that refusal is deemed “unreasonable”.

Unions welcomed the legislation, saying it gave workers a way to reclaim some work-life balance.

“Today is a historic day for working people,” said Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. “Australian unions have reclaimed the right to knock off after work,” she said.

In the streets of Sydney, people appeared to welcome the change.

“I have a very hard time disconnecting and even though I may not necessarily be logged on, my brain is constantly working overtime,” said not-for-profit worker Karolina Joseski.

“So getting that after-hour call from my boss doesn’t necessarily help.”

But the reform got a cool welcome from Australia’s top industry body.

“The ‘right to disconnect’ laws are rushed, poorly thought out and deeply confusing,” the Australian Industry Group said in a statement.

“At the very least, employers and employees will now be uncertain about whether they can take or make a call out of hours to offer an extra shift,” it said.

The law is similar to those of some European and Latin American countries.

Research indicates that the right to disconnect benefits employees, said University of Sydney associate professor Chris Wright.

Employees are experiencing “availability creep” as smartphones and other digital devices put them in reach of their employers, Wright said.

“Having a measure that restores to some extent the boundary between people’s work and non-work lives is a positive thing, certainly for employees but also for employers,” he said, particularly in industries trying to lure new workers.

The Australian law, enacted in February, came