PM says productivity will increase with disconnection rights. Canberra businesses ask how?

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says workplace productivity is likely to increase now that the Right to Disconnect legislation has come into effect, but Canberra businesses are not expecting that to happen.

Canberra Chamber of Commerce chief executive Greg Harford believes most employers in the Australian Capital Territory do the right thing by their employees.

He does not expect the new rules to have a major impact on local businesses and does not see them as a way to increase productivity.

“The truth is that good employers already treat their employees well and do not cause them unnecessary trouble,” Mr Harford said.

“The bigger issue is regulatory compliance and whether that could lead to a climate conducive to litigation, which is not helpful.”

As of today (26th August), employees of companies employing 15 or more people have the right to disconnect from work at the end of their shift.

This means that they are now protected by law and can refuse contact outside of working hours unless the refusal is unjustified.

Employees have the right to refuse to monitor, read, or respond to communications from their employer or a third party.

Smaller business owners and their employees still have a year before the changes apply to them.

While the coalition has criticised the change, saying it will negatively impact productivity, the Prime Minister believes the new rules will improve efficiency in the workplace.

“You know what this will do? It will increase productivity,” Mr Albanese told ABC radio.

“Because when people are truly loyal to their employer and focused on what they need to be doing and not getting distracted 24 hours a day – but focused eight hours a day, and if they work longer hours, longer hours – you get a more productive workforce.

“The idea that if you work from 9am to 5pm you have to be on duty at 10pm is not reasonable and (the new law) will lead to improved workplace relations.

“That means employers and employees need to have a common-sense conversation about what is reasonable and what is not, and that will lead to better workplace relationships.”

The opposition took to the media to condemn the introduction of the new rules, with Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume saying they were unfair to employers.

She also questioned whether the definition of “unreasonable” could be agreed between bosses and workers.

“It’s not going to generate any conversation. It’s really just wrapping employers in extra red tape and making some positions completely unworkable,” she said.

“Adding additional rights to employees as part of what is simply a normal part of the employment relationship is unwise, especially for small businesses that just have to go out and get the job done.”

The Australian Business Council also expressed doubts about the impact of the changes on productivity.

CEO Bran Black suggested the new rules could even adversely affect the country’s trade competitiveness.

“These regulations threaten Australia’s competitiveness because they increase the costs and complexity of doing business, which means less investment and fewer job opportunities,” Mr Black said.

“At a time when productivity has fallen and bankruptcies have risen, we cannot risk making it harder to do business with additional bureaucracy.

“Combined with recent difficult negotiations and changes in employment while maintaining the same job and the same pay, we now risk creating an environment in which it will be harder to employ people.

“I keep hearing from companies large and small that the burden of growing bureaucracy in the workplace is becoming increasingly difficult to bear.

“We want to see more workplace solutions at the enterprise level that increase productivity and participation, and we want to see government take a less rigorous ‘one size fits all’ approach that just increases red tape, complexity and costs.”

Unions hailed the new law as a “victory for the cost of living” and “a historic day for working people.”

ACTU president Michele O’Neil said the union movement had won the legal right for Australians to spend time with their loved ones without the stress of having to constantly answer annoying work calls and emails.

“The average person does five to six hours of unpaid work a week. With this new law, Australians can now be paid for those hours,” Ms O’Neil said.

“The cost of living is the number one issue for working people. (Opposition leader) Peter Dutton has promised to scrap the right to disconnect, which would put the end to the weekend at risk.

“That would mean longer hours, lower wages and more stress in the lives of workers. We deserve leaders who stand with working people, not with the pockets of big businesses.”

The new regulations also improve the rights of temporary workers.

The Prime Minister stated that the system will function well because good employers have good relationships with their employees.

“If someone works part-time at their local supermarket and they want to come in and pick up an extra shift because someone else didn’t show up or someone called in sick, that’s fine, that’s their decision,” he said.

“But you can’t tell them, ‘No, you didn’t answer the call for work on Sunday when we texted you at 11 p.m. on Saturday. So I’m not going to give you any shifts and I’m going to punish you at work.'”

The Prime Minister said the aim of the bill was to ensure that “just as people do not receive their wages 24 hours a day, they do not have to work 24 hours a day”.