Aussie workers can now ignore work e-mails, calls after hours

'Right to disconnect' law seen curbing creep of digital tech into employees' personal lives

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SYDNEY - Is your boss texting you during the weekend? Work e-mail pinging long after you have left for home?

Australian employees can now ignore those and other intrusions into home life thanks to a "right to disconnect" law designed to curb the creep of work e-mails and calls into personal lives.

The new rule, which came into force on Aug 26, means employees, in most cases, cannot be punished for refusing to read or respond to contacts from their employers outside work hours.

Supporters say the law gives workers the confidence to stand up against the steady invasion of their personal lives by work e-mails, texts and calls, a trend that has accelerated since the Covid-19 pandemic scrambled the division between home and work.