- Australia Implements ‘Right to Disconnect’ Law
- IRS Approves Retirement Plan Amendments for Contribution Allocation
- Survey: 87% of Companies Will Have Returned to Office by 2025
- Apple Cuts Jobs in Online Services Group
Australia Implements ‘Right to Disconnect’ Law
As reported by Reuters, Australian employees can now ignore work emails and calls that come in after hours, thanks to a new “right to disconnect” law. The rule, which went into effect Aug. 26, means employees, in most cases, cannot be punished for refusing to read or respond to contacts from their employers outside work hours.
The changes add Australia to a group of nearly two dozen countries, mostly in Europe and Latin America, that have similar laws.
To cater for emergencies and jobs with irregular hours, the rule still allows employers to contact their workers, who can only refuse to respond where it is reasonable to do so.
Determining whether a refusal is reasonable will be up to Australia’s industrial umpire, the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which must consider an employee’s role, personal circumstances, and how and why the contact was made. It has the power to issue a cease-and-desist order and, failing that, levy fines of up A$94,000 (around US$64,000) for an employer.
Andrew McKellar of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry did not have kind words for the legislation, stating in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp., “I think this is a triumph of stupidity over common sense.”
IRS Approves Retirement Plan Amendments for Contribution Allocation
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced it will allow U.S. workers to allocate their employer’s annual retirement plan matching contribution to any one of four different accounts.
Workers will be able to send some or all of the employer’s contribution to a 401(k) account, a health savings account, an educational assistance program account or a retiree health reimbursement arrangement, according to an IRS private letter ruling signed by Denise Trujillo, the Health & Welfare branch chief at the IRS Office of Associate Chief Counsel.
“The proposed amendments do not permit employees to elect between having the employer contribution paid in cash (or some other taxable benefit) or contributing it to a plan deferring the receipt of compensation,” Trujillo explained.
Because workers can’t convert the matching contributions into cash, the arrangement would not cause the 401(k) plan to “offer an additional cash or deferred arrangement.”
Survey: 87% of Employers Will Have Returned to Office by 2025
According to a recent ResumeBuilder.com survey of 764 employers, 87% of the respondents said their workforce will have returned to the office by next year.
The majority of organizations (64%) currently require some or all employees to work from the office. Additionally, 23% plan to implement a return-to-office (RTO) policy by the end of 2025, while 7% plan to do so in 2026 or later. Only 6% of organizations have no plans to require any employees to RTO.
“In recent years, companies have been attempting to bring employees back to the office, often citing improved productivity (though not definitively proven), increased revenue and a more cohesive company culture as reasons,” said Stacie Haller, the chief career advisor at ResumeBuilder.com.
The survey also found:
- Among organizations that have returned to the office, 34% started requiring employees to go back in 2022, with 7% implementing an RTO policy in 2023. Additionally, 23% began requiring employees to return in 2021 and 16% started in 2024.
- The majority of organizations are operating with a hybrid model, while 30% require employees to be in the office full-time.
- Just over one-half (54%) of organizations that have already implemented an RTO policy do not plan to change the number of required in-office days by the end of 2025. However, 32% plan to increase the number of days.
“The optimal in-office model remains in flux,” said Haller. “The debate over the ideal number of in-office days has been ongoing, with many organizations now settling on a three-day workweek in the office. Some companies have adopted a wait-and-see approach, closely monitoring the evolving workforce landscape to ensure they can still attract and retain top talent in a competitive job market.”
Apple Cuts Jobs in Online Services Group
As reported by Bloomberg, Apple Inc. will cut 100 jobs in its digital services group, part of a shift in priorities for the critical division, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The layoffs included some engineering roles, and the biggest cuts were made to the team responsible for the Apple Books app and Apple Bookstore. There were also layoffs in other services teams, including the one that runs Apple News.
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