Debate Over Workplace Reform Centers on Right to Contact Workers After Hours

Negotiations are underway in Parliament over the federal government’s contentious industrial relations reform, called “Closing Loopholes.”

On Feb. 6, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) issued a joint statement along with the CEOs of all national, state, and territory business chambers, calling on the Senate to “carefully reconsider the implications of this rushed and flawed industrial relations legislation.”

“We are gravely concerned that the proposed legislation will harm all business owners and operators, especially growing ones,” they said.

“The legislation will also impact the prospects for the very employees that it purports to protect. It will damage the communities that are reliant on the growth and resilience of local businesses.”

One aspect of concern to the ACCI is the so-called “right to disconnect,” which gives employees the right to not be contacted by their boss outside of certain hours.

The Chamber’s Director of Workplace Relations Jessica Tinsley said both employers and employees should be worried that the proposal impinges on flexible work, which is “incredibly important for women and others, but particularly women who have finally started to get a foothold in the workplace as these workplaces become more flexible.”

She said the “right to disconnect” would more accurately be called “unlawfulness to contact your employees after hours.”

Terms Are Ill-Defined, Business Says

The Chamber was concerned that the legislation relied on the concept of “reasonableness“ which she said was ill-defined and would end up being decided ”case by case.” 

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