New laws allowing employees the right to disconnect from work are the latest in a suite of improvements to Australian workplace laws achieved through the union movement’s advocacy.
IEU-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke said as of today, school staff will no longer be obliged to respond to non-urgent correspondence from their employer, parents or students in the evenings or on weekends.
“Teachers and school officers should not have to be permanently on call and these sensible laws reflect the need for all employees to rest and recover,” Mr Burke said.
“It’s recognition and respecting that education workers have lives and interests outside of their very demanding jobs,” he said.
Better work/life balance
IEUA Federal Secretary Brad Hayes said the important new workplace right will make a positive difference to the lives of thousands of IEU members across the country.
“The current teacher recruitment and retention crisis is directly linked to unsustainable workloads and career burnout,” Mr Hayes said.
“A legislated right to disconnect from work is another valuable tool for IEU members seeking to push back ever creeping work intrusions into their precious home and family time,” he said.
The right to refuse work-related contact outside normal hours complements similar protections already achieved by IEU members in some sectors within Queensland and Western Australia through collective bargaining negotiations last year.
Mr Hayes said IEU members had directly advocated for these laws and been at the forefront of debate, sharing their powerful stories in Parliament about the need for change.
“Employer directions, parental queries and student contact often encroach on members’ personal time well outside the school day,” he said.
“Like all workers, school staff need a break from work and deserve much-needed down time.
“A right to disconnect can help turn the tide for teachers drowning under unrelenting workloads,” Mr Hayes said.
Unions improving IR laws for workers
The right to disconnect follows extensive union campaigning in support of the federal Labor government’s Closing Loopholes Bill #2 introduced earlier this year.
The Closing Loopholes Bill #2 builds on a two-year industrial relations law reform program that has delivered much fairer workplaces for Australian employees, including greater job security and gender equality.
Mr Hayes said in addition to the right to disconnect changes, IEU members are leading a multi-pronged fightback against the issues of workload and work intensification.
“The changes have kickstarted discussions between school employers and members on how to lead a major cultural shift in work expectations within out school communities,” he said.
“From new collective agreements that bring greater balance to work duties, through to national outcomes that embed workload impact tests and streamline the onerous compliance tasks being imposed on teachers and school leaders, our union is committed to change,” Mr Hayes said.
