Australia was once a pioneer of setting work limits. 

In 1856, Victorian stonemasons won a world-first fight, demanding they work no more than eight hours a day. 

But these days, Australians are putting in “extreme and excessive” working hours, experts say.

New digital tools and flexible working models have created a culture where it Is the norm to be constantly contactable.

Research shows many Australians are at “high risk” of work addiction, and our work-life balance is worse than that of many other countries.

But new laws that come into effect next week aim to set work boundaries in an increasingly hyper-connected world. 

Similar “right to disconnect” policies have been largely successful in other countries. 

But will they be enough to break Australia’s workaholic habits?

Laws show promise globally 

From August 26, “right to disconnect” laws will apply to businesses with 15 or more employees.

The law will not restrict managers from contacting employees whenever they wish.

But it does give employees the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from their employer outside work hours unless that refusal is deemed unreasonable.

John Hopkins from Swinburne University’s school of business, law and entrepreneurship, said similar laws had been adopted in up to 25 countries.

And so far, there is evidence they have been largely successful in helping to protect the health and wellbeing of workers in the digital age.

“This is a step in the right direction,” Professor Hopkins said.

France set the agenda in 2017, becoming the first country to require companies to negotiate agreements with staff over their rights to ignore after-hours communication.

Fines for companies that breach the laws have been rare, but they do happen.

In an extreme case, the French wing of a British pest control business was ordered to pay a former employee 60,000 euros ($99,000) after forcing him to permanently leave his telephone on to respond to work requests.

A nation of ‘excessive’ workers

Research by the European Union agency Eurofound showed improved wellbeing and work satisfaction in companies with right-to-disconnect policies. 

Eurofound gathered insights from about 1,600 employee surveys across companies in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain.

More than 70 per cent of workers in companies with the regulations considered the impacts to be positive.

And 92 per cent of the workers reported very high levels of job satisfaction.

But Eurofound also determined that a right-to-disconnect policy on its own was “insufficient” to bring about cultural change in the workplace.

Lisa Heap, senior researcher at the Centre for Future Work, said Australia had created a culture that encouraged working long hours. 

“We have people who are in full-time employment doing extreme and excessive working hours,” she told the ABC.

A 2023 study by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute estimated Australian workers were on average doing an extra 5.4 hours a week.

That amounts to about 280 hours of unpaid time each year, at a cost of $130 billion in annual lost incomes.

Ms Heap said Australia was taking a “strong step”.

“There’s been a kind of erosion of rights in relation to employment in Australia,” she said.

“This law is trying to recreate the idea of what is the ‘norm’.”

However, Rachael Potter from the Centre for Workplace Excellence at the University of South Australia, said if there was nothing stopping managers from contacting employees, it would be “very difficult” to shift behaviours. 

“It’s a very positive step forward, but it will still be quite challenging to ignore a manager if they contact you out of hours,” she told the ABC.

“We need a culture that doesn’t encourage and reward sending late-night emails, and it’s up to an employer to set the tone.”

Australians can ‘send a message’

Expectations to put in extra hours exist across all industries and levels within a workforce.

And more employees were feeling pressure to work overtime due to fears about job security and the increased cost of living, Dr Potter said.

Dr Potter has been involved in global research that shows Australians are among the most at risk of work addiction and are increasingly unable to switch off.

But Professor Hopkins believes Australia should not be any different to other countries that have adopted the laws.

Although the impacts might be “subtle”, he said they should lead to important discussions. 

“It’s not going to eliminate contact at all,” Professor Hopkins said. 

“Hopefully we’ll reduce it, and encourage those conversations about who is getting contacted outside of work hours.”

Ms Heap said the laws would send a signal, and give employees the assurance it was OK to say no. 

“Even if employees don’t do anything about it right now, because they don’t necessarily have the confidence to raise that concern, they know that’s not what’s supposed to happen,” she said. 

The European Union study recommended that policies should be accompanied by awareness raising and effective measures to limit out-of-hours connection.

Dr Potter said employees could start by simply switching off. 

“Individuals need to set their own boundaries by turning off notifications and taking work emails off their phones,” she said.

“People are needing recovery time … these laws send a message that we need to disconnect more, but whether that’s enforced or not we’ll have to see.”