A few weeks later, in her Employment Law tutorial, Tamara sat half-listening again. Her mind was at work. Would she get another text or email on her uni day? What would happen if she didn’t respond this time? Would that be the end of her job? Would one missed reply short-circuit her whole career fuse box? Then suddenly, she was paying attention. The tutor said some magic words that rang in her ears. Somebody answer the damn phone , she heard herself think. But it wasn’t the phone that was ringing. It was the words coming out of the tutor’s mouth. “The Right to Disconnect now applies to small businesses.” She thought her lecturer called it a quiet revolution for work-life balance, but that might have been her inner voice, finally speaking up.
She thought her lecturer called it a quiet revolution for work-life balance, but that might have been her inner voice, finally speaking up.
She wasn’t quite sure if she had heard correctly, or if her subconscious was sending her a message to balance her ambition with the path she was taking to get there. She doodled the words on her notepad, tracing them again and again until the ink finally tore a small hole in the paper. And then she was all ears. She started listening to her tutor properly, making notes, asking questions, really trying to take it all in. Later that night at home, she opened her laptop and researched more. She had become good at it, something she realised she had picked up at work. She was much faster than her classmates. It wasn’t until that moment that she realised how she had developed the skill and how ironic it was that the very thing her job had taught her was now helping her
understand her right to disconnect from it. She started reading the Fair Work website, reviewing every word twice, even three times, to ensure she didn’t misinterpret a single line. Yes, it said: From 26 August 2025, the Right to Disconnect applies to small businesses. That meant her workplace, the partners, the paralegals, the secretary and her. The words on the screen echoed in her head. She could refuse to read, respond to, or monitor calls and messages outside her working hours, unless that refusal was unreasonable. So, what did unreasonable mean? It depended on the reason for the contact,
her role, her personal circumstances, and
04:05 I 37
ISSUE 17 GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online