Right to disconnect laws are coming. Here’s how to set proper boundaries at work
Our digital and physical lives have never been more intertwined, but pretty soon, it will be a little bit easier for Australians to disconnect. A new law will allow Australia to follow in the footsteps of countries like France by enshrining employees’ rights to unplug and ignore that late night Slack message or email.
From August 26, changes to the Australian Fair Work Act means workers will have the formal right to disconnect from all work communication outside of their usual work hours (for small businesses, these changes come into effect from August 2025).
John Hopkins, Associate Professor of Management at Swinburne, welcomes the change. “Over the last two decades, the growth in digital technologies has really meant that everybody is available 24/7. Contact happens whenever is convenient for the sender or the caller and we don’t have any laws around it, so I think this is certainly a step in the right direction,” he says.
“Is it going to be perfect? I very much doubt it, but it’s better than what we’ve got currently, which is gothic.”
But switching off after hours is easier said than done. While workplace cultural changes go beyond the individual, here are some strategies to help you properly disconnect come August 26.
The right to disconnect is set to become law this month.Credit: Getty Images
Set clear boundaries with your employer
For Hopkins, the “most important thing this new law will do is prompt conversations between managers and employees about what is reasonable and what is unreasonable contact outside of hours.”
Indeed, the new law stipulates that employees have the right to refuse contact, unless that refusal is unreasonable. Hopkins says it is up to employers and their staff to determine what constitutes unreasonable contact, which will vary depending on their industry, role and hours.
“What this law isn’t trying to do is stop emergency contact outside of hours,” he says. “What it’s attempting to do is to reduce that non-essential contact outside of work that can wait until the next day.”
Some things worth discussing include appropriate modes of contact at different times of day, and ways employers can signal if something is urgent.
“The problem, particularly with text-based messages, is that you can’t read the tone in which they’re written, so it can be hard to determine how urgent they actually are,” says Hopkins.
He suggests marking emails as “urgent” or “important” to indicate time sensitivity (although these will need to be used with restraint), or classifying certain modes of communication as urgent or non-urgent.
“A mobile phone call at 11.30 at night is more disruptive than an email at 11.30 at night. So perhaps the conversation could include, ‘if I call you outside of work hours. It means it’s urgent.’”
Workers can also make use of messaging scheduling, so they can send a message at a time that’s convenient to them without causing unnecessary disruption out of hours.
For clarity, Hopkins suggests these agreed-upon boundaries be put in writing, either as part of a formal workplace policy or as a more individual contract between a manager and worker.
Practise good tech hygiene
Jane Gifkins, a research fellow with the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing at Griffith University, says little changes in the digital arena can go a long way in setting clear boundaries and expectations.
Maintaining separate work and personal emails, as well as making good use of an email signature or out of office alert, can be positive steps.
“I have a colleague who will often send emails outside of work hours,” Gifkins suggests, “and she has a disclaimer that reads, ‘I sometimes send emails at odd hours because I work flexibly. Please do not feel obliged to respond to my emails’.”
She says these small changes can help shift the culture around work and expectations.
“Just those small things like signatures that communicate when you’re in, when you’re not and what you’re expectations are,” she explains.
Hopkins adds that because technology has become so entrenched in our day-to-day lives, disconnecting from our devices requires broader lifestyle changes.
“The situation we have now hasn’t been created by employers or employees. It’s a combination of a lot of different factors. In many ways we’re addicted to these devices,” he says.
“The most effective way of managing your work-life balance is to turn the device off at a certain time each day or mute your notifications.”
Psychological disconnection
Gifkins’ research with nurses found that those who were able to forget about work experienced less fatigue and had better mental and physical health.
The ways in which one detaches from work are deeply personal, says Gifkins, but some of the most successful strategies in her research included exercise and spending time with friends and family.
“But it’s really about what we choose to do and what we get joy and enjoyment from.”
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