Employers and unions have confirmed the gulf that exists over 'right to disconnect' laws that come into force today, the former lamenting a lack of FWC guidance on "reasonable" contact and forecasting "conflict and disharmony", while the latter hailed the new provisions as "reclaiming the right to knock off".
The ACTU is recommending the FWC include more "practical detail" in its draft "right to disconnect" award term, to "spell out" what the Commission will consider when it determines whether or not a refusal is unreasonable and is also proposing a review in 12 months.
The proposed "right to disconnect" modern award clause is "mostly suitable", but should clarify that the entitlement is a "workplace right" within the meaning of the Fair Work Act's general protections provisions and specify the dispute resolution procedure to follow, an employment and contract law academic says.
Four weeks ahead of employees winning a legislated right to disconnect, public service employers have been told they will need to train HR professionals and managers about the interaction of the new entitlement with general protections laws and consider updating job descriptions to ensure they "accurately reflect" expectations about after-hours contact.
A Macquarie University academic says Medibank employees trialling a four-day "100:80:100" working week are performing better and feeling more motivated, while productivity is unchanged, with some indicating they would choose an employer based on whether the option is available.
Wilson Security unlawfully denied a FIFO guard proper breaks within roster cycles and made him work an extra 15 unpaid minutes for "handover" at the start of each shift, a court has held, but a manager who reinforced the requirement was not an accessory.
The FWC is inviting submissions by June 11 on a "right to disconnect" audit of all 155 modern awards focusing on terms involving spans of hours, notice, supervisory duties, and requirements to remain on call, on standby or return to duty.
The SDA says its challenge to a Victorian/Tasmanian Aldi deal on the basis that it tries to circumvent new "same-job, same-pay" laws has prompted the company to quietly ditch similar provisions from a proposed SA deal immediately before an unsuccessful ballot.
NSW unions are looking for solutions as "extremely shocking" preliminary results of an unpaid overtime survey suggest it is rife, with whole industries apparently dependent on it.
A court has accepted that Melbourne University threatened two casual workers that "if you claim outside your contracted hours don't expect work next year" and when one worker tried to claim five additional hours it refused to further engage her, calling her a "self-entitled Y-genner" on a "crusade behind the scenes".
