In workplaces around the world, there's a debate underway about the dividing line between personal time and company time. And it's at the heart of a discussion underway this week in Australia's parliament.
The headline description is “the right to disconnect.” It means your boss can’t call you, write you or text you after hours.
And if the boss does so, that could mean financial penalties for the company.
There are some cases when it may be “reasonable” for a boss to call an employee after hours.
For example, Australia's Minister of Employment and Workplace Relations says bosses may need to get in touch to fill a shift for a worker calling in sick.
And if a boss sends an email or a text after hours, there's no need to answer it immediately.
But he also says, “There are some workplaces where effectively people are working a whole lot of hours unpaid because they're expected to be permanently on-call.”
And he says that's just wrong.
The leader of the Greens Party agrees that “too many people are under an enormous amount of stress and there's a lot of unreasonable contact.”
Laws like this have already been passed — mostly in Europe.
It's still under discussion in Kenya and in the Philippines where the head of the Employers Confederation called it a "disadvantage for everyone," predicting it would send business investors “to Vietnam or Thailand where the labor laws are friendly.”
Australia's senate takes up debate on the measure tomorrow.
