The right to disconnect will rid Australians of "availability creep," where employees are expected to work outside office hours. This trend, exacerbated by smartphones and remote work during COVID, has led to significant unpaid overtime and mental and physical health issues. The law will restore work-life balance and protect employees from unpaid labor.
This law will reduce workplace flexibility and productivity, potentially by disrupting the existing consensus on workplace flexibility. There's alsoare concernconcerns about the law's lack of clarity, andas well as its potential negative impacts on employment opportunities and employer-employee relationships. For instance, who exactly will decide what is "reasonable" about a call or an email when made after work hours?
There's a 50% chance that the average American employee will work at least 31.2 hours per week in 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
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