Criminal sanctions against employers who breach the botched ‘right to disconnect’ provisions rushed through Parliament is set to become proclaimed Australian law.

Despite earlier claims the House of Representatives would wait until the Senate sits to remove the prospect of employers facing criminal charges, the bill was passed today.

“Rather than waiting for another Senate sitting day, the government decided to push the bill through today without removing the criminal element to the new right to disconnect laws,” ACCI chief executive officer Andrew McKellar said.

“This Greens-inspired amendment was rushed through the Parliament with unseemly haste, without the scrutiny the rest of the bill has undergone over months.

“While the error in the bill was apparently inadvertent, the result is a complete mess which adds to the grave misgivings business has about this legislation.

“It is unfathomable that this botched legislation will become the law of the land once given royal assent.

“This highlights the problems that have been caused by this productivity-wrecking legislation that has been subject to virtually no parliamentary scrutiny.

“It is essential that the government makes crystal clear when the amending legislation will be introduced to fix this mess.

“Further, this legislation should be subjected to the same degree of examination applied to the rest of the legislation.”