Is your boss texting you after work? Do you get a “please fix” email while you’re on vacation? In some countries, you can now simply ignore all of these notes once you’re off the clock.
Australia recently joined the ranks of countries like France, Spain and Belgium by passing a “right to disconnect” law, which came into effect on August 26. This legislation allows employees to step away from work-related communications outside their official working hours, ensuring that personal time remains personal.
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While this development is welcome news for many workers in Australia, not everyone is on board. “Shark Tank” personality and investor Kevin O’Leary is one of the outspoken critics of the legislation.
“This kind of stuff just makes me crazy. It’s so dumb. Who dreams this crap up is my question. And why would anybody propose such a stupid idea?” he said in a clip he shared of a recent interview with Fox News.
O’Leary’s concerns
As an investor and entrepreneur, O’Leary places great importance on the seamless operation of a business, even outside of regular working hours. He has voiced strong concerns about employers’ ability to reach their employees in urgent situations, highlighting potential issues with the “right to disconnect” laws.
“What happens if you have an event in the office and it’s closed? Or you have an emergency somewhere, and you have to get a hold of them at two in the morning because it affects the job they’re working on?” he questioned.
If employees start ignoring their boss’s calls, texts, and emails outside of work hours, an after-hours emergency might have to wait until the next business day, which O’Leary finds unacceptable.
When asked whether he ever encounters employees who silence their phones outside of work, O’Leary didn’t hesitate with his response: “The next moment is — I just fire them.”
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‘Clocking off used to mean something’
While O’Leary’s criticism is rooted in the risk of not being able to contact staff during critical moments, proponents of the “right to disconnect” argue that such laws are essential for establishing clear boundaries between professional duties and personal well-being.
In a statement about the new legislation, Australia’s Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt said, “Clocking off used to mean something in this country. It meant time with your kids, time with your friends or just time to yourself to relax.”
Watt highlighted how technology has blurred the lines between work and personal life, leaving many Australians feeling pressured to stay connected to emails and calls even after their workday is over. He asserted that, “It should not be controversial that workers shouldn’t be required to do unpaid overtime.”
While the U.S. doesn’t have “right to disconnect” laws at the federal level, California made an attempt to introduce such legislation. Assembly Bill 2751, spearheaded by Assembly Member Matt Haney, was designed to establish this right for employees across the Golden State.
According to the Legislative Counsel’s Digest, “This bill would require a public or private employer to establish a workplace policy that provides employees the right to disconnect from communications from the employer during non-working hours, except as specified.”
Despite the potential impact of this legislation, it did not come to fruition. The bill was shelved for the 2024 legislative session, putting a temporary halt to the push for a formal “right to disconnect” in California.
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