The battle to define 'normal working hours' and swapping the office for a trade

Thought the fight over the right to disconnect was over? Think again.

This week, employer groups and unions clashed over what constitutes reasonable contact outside normal working hours.

Bosses told the Fair Work Commission it must not introduce more prescriptive rules than already exist in Labor’s legislation when it tailors the right to disconnect for awards ahead of an August 26 start date for large businesses. They argued a strict right to disconnect could make life harder for on-call workers and enthusiastic staff eager to accept offers for extra work.

But Michele O’Neil, president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) , said when employers pushed for “flexibility” that really just meant they wanted workers to work without getting paid.

Separately, the NTEU (National Tertiary Education Union) urged the workplace tribunal to ensure academics were not required to respond to student emails after hours unless they were specifically paid for it.

The commission will publish draft terms for the right to disconnect on July 15 and final ones on August 23.

The Australian Financial Review also spoke to office worker turned tradie Courtney Gibney to find out why she swapped a desk for a construction site after watching an episode of renovation show The Block.

Modelling conducted by government agency Jobs and Skills Australia suggests the country will need 32,000 more electricians like Gibney over the next seven years to meet the demands of the net-zero transition. And it’s far from the only skilled trade crying out for workers amid a push to build 1.2 million homes over half a decade.

Elsewhere, we share four leadership lessons from a lunch with Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou, learn from screenwriter Tony Ayres why being ruthless is not the only path to success, and reveal what your work desk says about you.

You're missing out! Get even more insights a day early when you sign up to our FREE Work & Careers newsletter: direct to your inbox, every Thursday.

Wealth Generation

If you'd like more content like this, sign up for our Wealth Generation newsletter. News and views to help aspirational investors grow, protect and enjoy their wealth, delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. Open to non-subscribers.

Listen Now

Thanks for joining us. If you haven't already, subscribe to The Australian Financial Review today for complete access to all our news and analysis.