Huge change to workplace rules come into force TODAY: Here’s what your boss is can no longer force you to do

Employees are allowed to ignore calls and texts from their bosses outside of work hours, as the right to disconnect is enshrined. However, companies warn that there is confusion over how exactly this works.

Workers across Australia are now allowed to refuse to monitor, read or respond to work communications outside of paid hours, unless doing so would be unreasonable.

Industrial Relations Minister Murray Watt said it depended on seniority and the type of role, and encouraged workers to speak to their boss.

“What it’s really about is trying to get the work-life balance back into people’s lives a bit better,” he told Sky News on Monday.

“What we are asking of people is that they have some respect for people’s private lives and recognise that they are not being paid to take calls outside of working hours.”

According to Senator Watt, younger workers who are not paid as well should not have to answer the phone for a mundane matter that can wait until the next day.

Workers like Lizzy Grant, who spent hours on her phone checking last-minute schedule updates and answering emails from her boss, are expected to benefit from the reduction in unpaid hours.

Mrs. Grant switched from a full-time government job to a part-time job in airline customer service because she wanted to spend more time caring for her elderly mother and raising her grandchildren.

The laws have sparked a heated political debate among unions, business groups and other advocates, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton even vowing to overturn the laws if elected.

The right to disconnect does not apply in emergency situations. In determining what is reasonable, account is taken of the reason for contact, how disruptive it is, the nature of the person’s employment and their personal circumstances, including caring responsibilities.

According to Dr Sandra Martain of Curtin University, the provision leaves some room for interpretation because ‘reasonable’ is a broad concept.

But a ‘troubled’ Ms Grant found her 20-hour week often stretched into a 40-hour workload as she constantly had to answer emails and texts about technical issues with the airline, such as dangerous goods and loading checks.

But it is expected that an employee will answer the phone in an emergency or that highly paid senior employees will call back, Senator Watt said.

Business groups and the coalition have questioned the meaning of the term “unreasonable.”

“It won’t start a conversation, it will just add bureaucracy to employers and make some jobs completely unworkable,” said Jane Hume, the opposition’s finance spokeswoman.

The right to disconnect means employees can ignore their bosses’ calls outside of work hours when it’s reasonable to do so, but companies are in an uproar over what that means

“It’s unfair to give employees more rights for something that’s just part of a normal working relationship, especially for small businesses here who just have to do their job.”

Bran Black, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, says it puts Australia’s competitive position at risk.

“At a time when productivity is stagnating and bankruptcies are rising, we cannot afford to make doing business more difficult with additional bureaucracy,” he said.

The government’s reforms also improve gig workers’ rights and provisions for temporary workers to transition to permanent employment.