A legislated “right to disconnect” from work could soon become a permanent feature of Australia’s industrial laws, after a key senate committee recommended the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations investigate how to get the reform onto statute books to better protect carers.
The recommendation is one of several key reforms recommended by the Senate Select Committee on Work and Care in its interim report tabled yesterday, some of which have already made their way into the Budget, like the extension of parental leave from 18 weeks to 26 weeks.
The lengthy interim report is a portrait of the workplace re-balancing after the disruption of COVID that the Albanese government is aiming for in its first term, with a sturdy thematic emphasis that public and private employers can’t just keep dudding carers and expect things to improve.
To say the ground covered is broad is an understatement: parental care, early childhood education, childcare, disability, the gender pay gap, inadequate pay, skills shortages, aged care, lack of data, job insecurity and workforce participation are all covered in the 150-page tome.
The inquiry has also spring-boarded off the recent Jobs and Skills Summit that brought unions, welfare advocates, employers, experts and policymakers together, pushing stakeholders to make submissions to be included in the interim report.
“The committee has built on the momentum of the National Jobs and Skills Summit to deliver an interim report which echoes the need for greater workplace flexibility and acknowledgement of the diverse needs of employees and the significance of caring responsibilities,” said senator Deb O’Neill, the committee’s deputy chair.
“The committee has been thorough in its consultation with rural and regional communities, and has sought First Nations voices, to ensure the committee’s report and its recommendations are aligned with the best interests of a wide array of Australian communities.”
A legislated right to disconnect, which exists in parts of Europe, would be a new protection to cover ‘flexible’ employees who work from home and would “allow employees to appeal to the Fair Work Commission where the right is not being enacted by employers” the recommendation states.
Data deficit
The committee also wants the collection of data prioritised through “new questions in the Census and/or new regular surveys of a representative group of workers to determine the extent, nature and effects of the interaction of work and care responsibilities across Australia.”
While the push might seem simple and common sense, it reveals a long-held desire by the current government, academia and large sections of the bureaucracy to draw a line under the elimination or de-funding of inconvenient data sets to manage annoying numbers.
There is also a push to create a schema and “analysis of care work classifications and wage structures to systematically address underpayments and lift wages in the care sector.”
Fight for your right to flex
A big-picture recommendation that will make employers sit up and take notice is a proposed change to the fair work act to “make the right to request flexible work available to all workers” and flipping the right of refusal.
Specifically, it calls to “replace the ‘reasonable business grounds’ provision at section 65(5) under which employers can refuse a flexible working arrangement, with refusal only on the grounds of ‘unjustifiable hardship’.”
Child care for First Nations people, by First Nations community-controlled Early Childhood Education and Care providers, is also called out, with calls for a long-term increase in funding and changes so that activity tests are not used to withhold subsidies from communities.
Rostering, especially “practices that are predictable, stable and focused on fixed shift scheduling” is also on the legislative agenda.
“It is critical that we give voice and visibility to the true extent of work and care responsibilities across Australia. This report gives voice to many, including regional and rural women, carers and advocates,” said senator Jana Stewart.
“The Albanese Labor Government is working across a number of measures to ensure Australian families are supported to be healthy, connected and to thrive, including cutting the cost of childcare for about 1.26 million Australian families.”
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