The new ‘right to disconnect’ legislation has been founded in the spirit of promoting greater work-life balance, which is something many Australians are in desperate need of. According to Gartner’s latest Global Talent Monitor survey, overall employee wellness in Australia is at an all-time low of 29.3 per cent.
The legislation seems simple. Those who work for an organisation with 15 or more people can now choose to ignore contact from work after hours, without the fear of losing their job. For smaller businesses, compliance is still 12 months away.
On the surface, it seems like the perfect solution to not only address employee burnout, but also the lack of boundaries between work and home life. However, the ‘right to disconnect’ should not and must not be seen as a replacement for flexible work options.
Time-specific boundaries aren’t the only way to create work-life balance
While the ‘right to disconnect’ is supposed to empower employees, the one-size-fits-all approach fails to support workers who require flexibility to participate in the workforce.
Key groups reliant on strong diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, including women, neurodiverse individuals or those with a disability, all benefit and perform better when working arrangements can be personalised.
For example, many women (and men too) need to log on after hours to manage when work and home life collide. Whether it’s juggling the school run, taking care of sick family members or grabbing a few hours to watch the kid’s school concert – flexibility is critical.
Whereas, neurodiverse talent may feel more productive during non-standard working hours and may choose to complete ‘deep’ work at a time when they are most engaged.
Gartner research shows that when organisations provide radical flexibility – not just when and where you work, but with whom, on what and how much – the percentage of employees defined as high performers increases by 40 per cent.
While workplaces need to respect employee boundaries, a hard stop at 5pm won’t be the answer that supports all workers to achieve better work-life balance.
As a manager navigating this change, it’s important to work with all team members to ensure they understand how the legislation works in relation to flexible work policies. The ideal outcome should be to drive personalised discussions about when, where and how the work gets done.
Supporting your team to realise work-life balance
Employees with a positive connection to work often feel understood or cared for and have autonomy in all aspects of their role.
Employers should use this time as an opportunity to reset boundaries and help employees to establish a healthy relationship with work. Allowing individuals to be upfront about what flexibility looks like and how they’d like to work is key.
The best approach to achieve this is to help staff develop formal agreements outlining their preferred schedules or plans. Regular reviews will ensure employee, team and manager expectations remain aligned.
Encourage individuals to take the time to discuss and agree on what team norms and work styles are. This way no one will miss out on opportunities when they arise.
Finally, while having these conversations, managers need to recognise that at its core, the right to disconnect is a culture change. It requires managers and leaders to role model the desired behaviours for employees to learn from.
Until leaders and managers give their team permission to disconnect by doing so themselves, the behaviour change will be hard to implement.
A great outcome for all will be more mindful conversations and support for what employees need to thrive at work.
