Unless it’s an emergency like a serious emerging crisis, public sector employees will be legally able to ignore phone calls and emails from their bosses outside of working hours from August 26.

The new right to disconnect laws don’t prevent a manager from contacting an employee out of hours, but a manager can only expect an employee to respond if it’s reasonable.

It follows growing concern about the potential of technology and ‘being on call’ 24/7 to blur the boundaries between professional and personal life, create unpaid extra work and contribute to burnout and poor mental health.

The Australian Public Service Commission last week released guidelines on the new laws to make sure everyone’s clear about what it all means, and to avoid potential disputes.

The APSC Guidance on the Right to Disconnect in the Public Sector provides agencies and managers with advice on how to implement the new laws, contained in recent amendments to the Fair Work Act.

Enforceable rights

The amendments introduce a new right to disconnect, which gives all national system employees, including public servants, an enforceable workplace right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from their employer outside their working hours unless it would be unreasonable to do so.

The document contains guidance on how agencies can can respond to the new legislation, including case studies to illustrate how the new system might operate in real life.

“The right to disconnect does not prohibit or prevent a manager or employee from making or attempting contact at any time,” the guidelines say.

“However, managers should exercise judgement and weigh up all the relevant factors before contacting an employee outside of their working hours if they are expecting or eliciting a response.”

Managers should exercise judgement and weigh up all the relevant factors before contacting an employee outside of their working hours if they are expecting or eliciting a response.

APSC

For example, it may be appropriate for a manager to contact an employee out of hours if it relates to an emergency, such as recalling them to work where there’s a serious unfolding crisis and the employee’s role is critical.

Contact might also be appropriate if a matter is urgent or time sensitive. A manager may need to contact an employee if a court has imposed a deadline and action is legally required, or if urgent action is necessary to meet legislated timeframes.

However, it may not be appropriate for a manager to expect employees to monitor or respond to queries about shift availability or other nonurgent matters.

The Fair Work Commission is also preparing a guideline on the right to disconnect which agencies should read alongside the FWC’s guidelines once available, the APSC says.

The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has published a fact sheet on the right to disconnect.

Commonwealth agency HR practitioners seeking more information on the right to disconnect can contact the Workplace Reform Branch on WorkplaceRelations@apsc.gov.au.

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