Already a subscriber?Employers have cautioned the workplace tribunal against disrupting staff communications when it introduces industry-specific rights to disconnect, flagging that miners, energy workers, plumbers, mechanics and other workers need to be contacted outside normal work hours.
ACCI workplace relations director Jessica Tinsley said that the award right to disconnect “should be broad and non-prescriptive, reflecting the intent of the legislation without imposing additional constraints on employers”.“Parameters for communication should be determined between employers and employees rather than imposed through rigid rules.”
“The use of vague terms like ‘flexibility’ by employer groups regarding the right to disconnect is code for requiring workers to work without pay,” Ms O’Neil said. The ACCI’s submission stresses that industry-specific rights, which threaten fines for breaches, must not interfere with the many sectors that heavily rely on contacting staff outside of hours for urgent work, and must ensure the right is about employee choice at its core.