‘Will see a rise’: Warning as bosses continue to ignore Right to Disconnect legislation
Businesses across Australia have been warned against continuing to ignore the new Right to Disconnect laws in 2025 or risk facing major consequences.
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Australia’s new Right to Disconnect laws have been in place for months now, but it seems many employers still aren’t getting it — and its something we will likely see causing big issues in 2025.
The legislation kicked in on August 26, giving staff working at a business with 15 or more employees the right to refuse contact outside of their working hours, along with the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from an employer or third party.
These rules will also apply to small businesses from August 26, 2025.
The new rules apply within reason and several factors need to be considered before sending your boss to voicemail, but, ultimately, any calls, texts or emails deemed to be “unreasonable” contact can now officially be ignored.
However, new research from job search site Indeed has found that a staggering amount of Aussie workers are still being contacted outside of work hours.
The survey, which consisted of responses from 501 Australian employers and 504 Australian employees, found four in five workers are still regularly being contacted during their personal time.
Shockingly, 65 per cent of workers said they have been contacted during their personal and annual leave, as well as during public holidays.
This is despite the vast majority of employers, 74 per cent, saying they back the new law.
If this trend continues, it is likely we will see a significant rise in disputes between employees and employers being referred to the Fair Work Commission.
Speaking to news.com.au, employment and industrial law barrister, Ian Neil SC, said there haven’t been many reported cases so far of the Commission handing down orders in disputes over the Right to Disconnect laws.
“I would expect that to change,” he said.
“The Right to Disconnect laws have really only been in operation since the end of August, and only for large employers. So it will take some time, I think, for appreciation of the Right to become more widely known.”
Mr Neil said it will also take time for employees who are not being given the benefit of the new law to approach the Commission and then it will take time for the Commission to deal with those disputes.
“I’m sure we will see a rise in the cases being referred to the Commission,” Mr Neil said.
“What I think we will see next year is the Fair Work Commission making more of what are called stop orders.”
Any disputes about an employee’s right to disconnect that can’t be resolved at a workplace level can be referred to the Fair Work Commission.
From there, the Commission can make a stop order, deal with the dispute in another way, such as holding a conference to try and reach a resolution, or it can do both of these things.
An employer may be subject to penalties of up to $18,780 for an individual or $93,900 for a body corporate if they are found to have violated the new laws.
A stop order can be made against an employer ordering them to cease requiring an employee to monitor, read or respond to contact outside of work hours.
The Commission can also stop an employer taking action against an employee because they believe the worker’s refusal to be contacted or to be available is unreasonable.
A stop order can also be issued to require employees not to unreasonably refuse to respond to correspondence or attempted contact from their employer.
Mr Neil also warned there could be some more speed bumps along the way, particularly when small business are impacted by the change from August 2025.
“Smaller businesses, by definition, often are usually not so well resourced as larger businesses, so they don’t have human resources departments who stay on top of all of this sort of thing and monitor it and so on. So yes, I anticipate there will be some roll out difficulties,” he said.
The barrister noted that these laws “cannot be ignored” and urged businesses and employees to have open conversations about how these changes can be integrated into their workplace.
“They are the ones that are going to succeed in dealing with this new Right and the employers that ignore it, they’re the ones that will fall into difficulties. It’s not going away.”
Indeed’s survey showed that, even though the intent of the legislation was help with setting these workplace boundaries, 79 per cent of employees are still fearful that if they do disconnect then there will be negative repercussions.
Indeed’s workplace psychologist, Amanda Gordon, said communication is key in this situation.
She said employees who find themselves in this position should have an open conversation with their boss about the amount of work they are being given and whether it is manageable for one person.
“I think it’s really important to have very clear outlines of what’s expected of you to achieve, and you have to be able to determine whether that’s a legitimate expectation or not,” she said.
Ms Gordon also noted that new laws often take a while to “make sense” to people, which is why there are often some teething issues to start.
“It’s going to take a little while for people to get used to them, but most people operate with the idea of goodwill,” she said.
“Most employers are not trying to exploit their employees. Most employees try to do a good job by their bosses.”
She added that employees shouldn’t go into this thinking that “the boss has all the say”, noting the way we work is much more reciprocal now.
“I think it’s really important that people do assert themselves, not just to institute strict boundaries, but to also discover what’s needed so that you can be the best employee you can be,” Ms Gordon said.
Originally published as ‘Will see a rise’: Warning as bosses continue to ignore Right to Disconnect legislation
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