Ireland – home of Saint Patrick’s Day, creator of Guinness, a land of great Craic and the birthplace of Game of Thrones.
But did you know, Ireland was also as early adopter of Right to Disconnect laws? There are actually more than 20 countries, mainly in Europe and Latin America, with these types of laws.
Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Right to Disconnect came into effect in April 2021. The Irish code is based on 3 main elements:
1. The right of an employee to not routinely perform work outside normal working hours.
2. The right to not be penalised for refusing to attend to work matters outside of normal working hours.
3. The duty to respect another person’s right to disconnect (e.g. by not routinely emailing or calling outside normal working hours).
The third point distinguishes it from the new Australian laws in that employers here are not specifically prohibited from routinely emailing or calling employees outside of working hours. Rather, our laws state that employers cannot disadvantage or penalise someone for reasonably exercising the right to disconnect and not engage with that attempted contact.
Interestingly, the Irish code also sets out employee obligations, including that:
- they manage their own working time
- they take reasonable care for their own health and safety and the health and safety of their colleagues
- they co-operate with any mechanisms used to record working time when working remotely
- they are mindful of their colleagues’, clients and everyone’s right to disconnect
- they notify their employer in writing of any statutory rest breaks that they could not take
- they remain conscious of their working patterns and work-related wellbeing.
How refreshing to see clear obligations in place for employees to take responsibility of their own wellbeing alongside reasonable obligations on the employer!
Under Irish legislation, failure to follow the Code is not an offence and does not in itself give rise to any claims. However, employers who fail to take it into account may have a weaker case in trying to defend any working time-related claims in the Courts. In an interview with BBC last month, Laura Bambrick, Head of Social Policy and Employment Affairs at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said they have seen zero claims through formal channels since the laws were introduced.
Bambrick also spoke about fears raised prior to the legislation, including reduced flexibility for those employees wanting/needing flexibility in hours, as well as concerns about scaring internal investors. She claimed that neither of these of concerns had been realised in the past three and a half years either.
Here in Australia (land of the yabbie race, wearers of flip-flops, creators of XXXX and the birthplace of Crocodile Dundee), it is early days for our Right to Disconnect laws. We live in hope that our nation of employers and workers will navigate with common sense and practicality and that Fair Work follows suit if they are involved in disputes.
FocusHR has identified a number of simple measures that employers can put in place including:
- setting reasonable expectations in Position Descriptions and Contracts of Employment
- providing an avenue for raising concerns internally (including this process in a Grievance, Conflict & Dispute Handling Policy)
- reviewing current practices and management habits that may be impacting on everyone’s ability to disconnect.
You can access our free Right to Disconnect Information Sheet. For further support in navigating this new legislation, please reach out to our team.