A raft of changes to workplace law were introduced in late August for businesses with more than 15 employees, the most publicised of which is the right to disconnect from work. The changes will apply to small businesses in another year.

Employees now have the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact or attempted contact outside their working hours, unless their refusal is unreasonable. This includes contact, or attempted contact, from their employer, or another person, if the contact is work-related.

Given the industry-specific implications, NSW Farmers are bringing a series of workshops on the right to disconnect and other new employment laws to Dubbo, Nyngan, Gilgandra and Coonabarabran this month. All farmers can attend, even if they are not members of NSW Farmers.

“Each session is short, sharp and practical, lasting around two hours in total, and we’ve gone to great lengths to make it well worth the trip into town for anyone interested in coming along,” NSW Farmers Head of Workplace Relations Gracia Kusuma said.

In a speech earlier this year, former Employment Minister Tony Burke said the right to disconnect wasn't about a complete ban on contact between employer and employee - for example, things like sending out work rosters to their employees would not be affected. The new law is all about choice and not being punished if workers choose to switch off.

"Employers will still be able to call people if there's an extra shift, 'We can't find something', that sort of thing, that will all still happen," Mr Burke said.

"But the concept that you are meant to be constantly monitoring your email, the concept that you have to have your phone with you at all times, the concept that you can be punished because you didn't do something during a period that you weren't working, is over."

NSW Farmers Head of Workplace Relations Gracia Kusuma said in an industry like agriculture, there are often seasonal out-of-hours expectations and the new laws need to be adaptable.

“These changes will have a significant impact on farm businesses, and so now is a more critical time to get across what the latest workplace laws and regulations are, as well as how they could affect the way your farm workforce operates,” she said.

While the change has generally been seen as a way to improve work/life balance and to reduce stress, not all stakeholders are happy with the concept.

The state’s peak business organisation, Business NSW says the new right to disconnect laws have arrived at a challenging time for small and medium businesses, with the decline in business confidence dropping from -59.7 to -67.8, based upon long-running opinion surveys.

“Business confidence in NSW has declined for the second straight quarter, making for a tough outlook for business,” Business NSW CEO Daniel Hunter said.

“Into this environment has come the Federal Government’s so-called ‘closing loopholes’ legislation. These laws will take time to have their full effect, but there is no doubt that it’s an additional layer of red tape our economy doesn’t need. This will increase the compliance and regulatory burden on business.”   

NSW has the highest number of business insolvencies. In 2023-24 NSW had 42 per cent of Australia’s insolvencies yet only 31 per cent of the country’s population. Since the pandemic, NSW is the only state which has seen average yearly insolvencies increase.   

“Small business (with less than 15 employees) will have another year before the right to disconnect laws kick in for them – and that’s positive because there will most likely be teething problems for medium and large businesses,” Mr Hunter said.  

“Ultimately, modern day employers are shifting to this informal ‘give-and-take’ approach anyway. Workplaces are saying ‘you can work in the morning and can pick up the kids in the afternoon no problem’. But under the new laws, contacting someone after hours is now considered problematic – even if someone’s traditional workday has already had those family-friendly allowances factored in. If the unions want a regimented workplace, then that flexibility needs to cut both ways.” 

Ms Kusuma says farming is a unique employment environment.

"Often there is a requirement that people are meant to be available out-of-hours in farming," she said.

"There can be emergencies after hours or seasonal conditions that require contact. There are obviously expectations, but they need to be based on what's reasonable.

"I think it's important to clarify that these new laws don't mean you can't contact your employees, it means that it is their choice whether to to follow up that contact. It's obviously got to involve common sense."

INFORMATION SESSIONS:

Information sessions will be held on September 25 at Nyngan RSL from 9.30am to 11.30am and Gilgandra Services Club – 2pm to 4pm. On September 26 the session will be at Acacia Motel, Coonabarabran from 9.30am 11.30am. 

Farmers can register for an event by visiting: https://form.jotform.com/holleyt/nswf-wr-wshop-rsvp.

For more information on the "right to disconnect" follow this link https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/resources/right-to-disconnect-fact-sheet.pdf