Two unrelated but connected paths towards the future of work have emerged in the southern hemisphere in the past month.
On one of those tracks is a new “right to disconnect” law. Workers in Australia are legally allowed to refuse to respond to workplace communication outside of contracted hours. Advocates of the scheme describe it as a win-win scenario for employers and employees, saying that workers who can rest and recharge in their downtime are more likely to be focused during their contracted hours, which can in turn only benefit the institutions and companies they work for. The policy also sets out clear guidelines for any needs-basis or “fair” out-of-hours contact.
On the other path, there is the head of an Australian mining firm who wants to maximise productivity during working hours by holding its office workers “all day long”. Chris Ellison, managing director of Mineral Resources in Perth, said during a presentation of the company’s fiscal performance that he didn’t want employees to even leave the building to buy a cup of coffee as it was bad for the firm’s bottom line, in comments reported by the BBC. The company’s western Australia offices are said to have a range of facilities to keep employees on-site, which echoes the pre-pandemic era when tech firm workers were said to be at work all the time, chewing up the dozens of hours every week at well-appointed, never-leave campuses.
Many would argue that both paths inevitably intertwine.
Mr Ellison’s maximum-output, high-performance, hold-employees-captive philosophy sits both comfortably and uncomfortably with the idea of clear boundaries between work and life and uninterrupted leisure time. But it also signals a new frontier in the pandemic-driven saga of what the future of work looks like.
Some have already pointed out that the right to disconnect is a nice idea in theory, but no more than that
The concept of the right to disconnect is not unique to Australia. France introduced similar legislation eight years ago and requires all but the smallest companies to detail when employees can disconnect. Other countries, including Germany, Canada and the Philippines, have similar laws in place in an attempt to mitigate against overload.
Several European companies instituted regulations and requirements years ago, back in the era when the BlackBerry was the smartphone of choice firmly tethered to its user’s hand, requiring employees to set down their devices over the weekend. An AFP report published in 2014 quotes one top European executive as saying: “I take a last look at my BlackBerry on Saturday morning and then I put it aside for the rest of the weekend. I don’t have to read my emails simply because someone somewhere is sending them to me.”
Set aside for a moment any incredulity about the choice of technology back then and recall, perhaps, that many knowledge workers had a slimmer portfolio of platforms to manage in their daily lives, with a lot of decisions and the business of work often driven by email. The concept of managing your inbox to zero was a popular response to the realities of digital working back then.
A decade later, most of those knowledge workers navigate an ever-expanding app-and-digital platform-driven world designed to improve communication, productivity and transparency, but also increasing the chance of facing issues such as workplace burnout and stress-related problems. For workers of today, their email inbox might be the least of their worries.
Some have already pointed out that the right to disconnect is a nice idea in theory, but no more than that. In time we will see what the workload of the Australia’s Fair Work Commission turns out to be. The FWC is charged with dispute resolution if companies and their workers are unable to resolve work-related issues themselves. If their caseload becomes busy, it probably means the regulations are effective but contested.
Those who sit in territories outside such regulatory frameworks will also wonder about the practicality of the “right to disconnect” rule and may point to their suitability in some commercial environments in a world where your smartphone powers almost every part of your waking world, be it for work or leisure.
While many people rightly yearn for equilibrium in their work and life, you can also easily imagine a world where those performative and cliched interview questions – like “why should I hire you”, “where do you see yourself in five years’ time” and “what’s your greatest strength”, which favour half-truth responses about relentlessness, always-on mentalities and resilience – are being met with incredulous silence, as the candidate replies “disconnected from you outside contracted hours”.
But something should give, even if government legislation on disconnection might be considered unnecessarily interventionist or unworkable in some industries.
In truth, the answers should be coming from the boardrooms themselves. Far better for companies to have charters, their own regulations and culture statements to guide them and be held accountable to, than for a nationwide regulatory framework. Far better, too, if other solutions are trialled simultaneously, such as the four-day week experiment in Dubai over the several weeks of the summer. Experiment, not mandate, could be a guiding principle.
With the five-year anniversary of the pandemic-induced work-from-home world soon upon us, it’s still unclear what the future of knowledge work truly looks like. We’ve developed an entire vocabulary to describe what’s going on, from hybrid to the great resignation, from quiet quitting to silent layoffs, from coffee badging to resenteeism, and so on, without ever really seeing it through a longer lens. We’ve witnessed a sequence of small changes after a period of fundamental uprooting.
Don’t be surprised if some version of “highly connected weeks and disconnected leisure time” becomes the next big trend, as employers and employees tussle over what’s fair in work and life and navigate a discussion on balance and value.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
Dubai World Cup Carnival Thursday race card
6.30pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes Group Three US$200,000 (Turf) 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m
7.40pm: UAE Oaks Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
8.15pm: Zabeel Mile Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m
8.50pm: Meydan Sprint Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,000m
9.25pm: Handicap $135,000 (D) 1,400m
10pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
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