00:00Patients at this Adelaide clinic are often seeking help for work-related stress, something
00:10senior psychotherapist Rana Kirchner can understand.
00:14It's definitely hard at times to leave work at work.
00:19Since August, millions of workers have been given the right to disconnect, the ability
00:24to reasonably refuse contact, such as calls and emails, outside of work hours.
00:30For me personally, it definitely meant permission to do things like silencing emails, just actually
00:36getting rid of notifications altogether on my days off and on weekends.
00:40So far, not a single case has been heard by the industrial umpire, meaning people like
00:46Rana's boss are working it out with their staff.
00:50Increasingly, my responsibility is to role model what is good boundaries between work
00:55and home.
00:56I think we've seen, by and large, businesses and employees alike really embrace this right
01:02to disconnect.
01:04The laws came in response to the so-called digital leash of technology and the compulsion
01:10of employees to answer calls, texts and emails outside of paid hours.
01:16It's just saying hold off and give people a break when they are at home because we're
01:21seeing now this constant need to be connected.
01:25The legislation doesn't mean your boss can't contact you, just that you might not have
01:31to answer.
01:32It's just trying to give workers a reprieve in a way to say, hey, you're okay, you can
01:38actually have a break.
01:40Work-life balance is on the mind of all Australian employees and maintaining productivity is
01:45on the mind of all Australian employers.
01:48More people will soon get the right to disconnect.
01:51From August, employees at 2.5 million small businesses will be covered by the laws as
01:57well.
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