The right to disconnect from work communications has emerged as a significant workplace industrial issue. Workers in schools are overworked, stressed, and exhausted. Many are leaving the profession and a teacher shortage is biting. The expectation that they are always “on call” for their employer and students and their parents, exacerbates workload intensification, Will Brodie writes.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus says its essential that working people can disconnect from work tasks; if we don’t have clear boundaries separating work and the rest of our lives, we end up performing even more unpaid work and damaging our mental health.
Members of the European Parliament have called for the right to disconnect to be a fundamental right, saying the ‘always on’ culture increases the risk of burnout, anxiety, and depression. Under their model, staff members would not be contacted outside their working hours, except in an emergency.
Already, six European nations have right to disconnect laws.
One size deosn’t fit all
Australian unions are now arguing for a ‘right to disconnect as part of their workplace agreements.
The IEU Queensland/Northern Territory Branch (IEU-QNT)has tabled a ‘right to disconnect’ claim in its current bargaining in Queensland Catholic schools. Its position recognises that such provisions need to suit the staff in each school: “Each school will establish through consultation with staff an agreed span of hours for the purposes of this clause.”
In schools with a School Consultative Committee (SCC), that body would manage the consideration of when staff are not able to be contacted. In schools without a SCC, the principal would be required to undertake the consultation with all employees.
This position recognises that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to expectations about being ‘connected’. Some research warns against being too restrictive, at the risk of creating distress for some.
Researchers at the University of Sussex in the UK who examined ‘right to disconnect’ rules found workers who were ‘banned’ from checking emails after work felt more stressed than when they were allowed to do so.
Emma Russell, lead researcher of the study said, “people need to deal with email in the way that suits their personality and their goal priorities in order to feel like they are adequately managing their workload”.
Marcus Butts, a management professor at Southern Methodist University, says after-hours connectivity canbe beneficial.
“Being able to attend to after-work emails after the kids go to bed allows you to set up for the next day,” he says, likening it to “parking downhill”.
Hard to enforce
A Sydney Morning Herald editorial suggested, “While it might help to write the broad principles into workplace agreements, this is such a complicated area that employers and employees will still have to show flexibility in working out the details”.
Expectations in one workplace may not suit another.
Workplace lawyer Samantha Maddern says, “… any ‘right to disconnect’ would still need to be sufficiently flexible to meet operational needs and accommodate employees’ reasonable needs.”
Legal and employment blog On Labor identified shortcomings of existing right to disconnect laws, including a lack of clarity and enforceability.