Right to disconnect laws: Huge change coming to Australian workplaces

Rules for some Aussie workers are changing. Here’s everything you should know about Australia’s new ‘right to disconnect’ laws.

Ever since the days when organised groups of humans built great pyramids, great walls, hanging gardens and so forth, the workplace has been a site of negotiation between the bosses and the bossed-about.

Workers have pushed for a greater quality of life, while bosses have pushed for workers to do more work. Basically.

The workers made some headway during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, with previously unthinkable innovations like trade unions, the 40-hour week and working nine to five.

But the introduction of the smartphone in the 21st century changed things. Devices with work email programs enabled and other messaging features led to a 24/7 work culture, and a phenomenon known as “availability creep”: the encroachment of employer demands on home and family life.

Things swung back again when the Covid-19 pandemic necessitated work from home arrangements in 2020 – an entitlement that many workers appear loath to give up, four years on.

Another big moment in the endless push-pull between bosses and workers comes into effect on Monday (August 26), with the introduction of something called “the right to disconnect”.

Here’s what you should know.

The Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle reportedly had a propensity to fire off staff emails at 5am. That could be a problem under Australia’s new ‘right to disconnect’ law. Picture: Desiree Navarro/WireImage

Elon Musk infamously emailed Twitter staff at midnight to tell them they had to commit to a “hardcore culture” of “long hours at high intensity,” or otherwise leave. Picture: Apu Gomes/Getty Images

WHAT IS THE RIGHT TO DISCONNECT?

From Monday, August 26, many Australian workers will have the right to refuse contact from their workplace and associated third parties outside of work hours, unless that refusal is “unreasonable”.

That means: an employer can’t sack a worker for failing to answer (or even monitor) the phone, an email or a text message if it’s after hours, unless there is a very good reason.

The provision will also be added as a clause to all modern employee awards.

WHICH WORKERS ARE COVERED BY THE NEW LAW?

The new law applies to all “national system” workers except for those employed by small business – although that sector will be made subject to the rule in one year’s time (August 26, 2025).

The “national system” covers the majority of Australian workers except for sole traders, interns and state public sector employees in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. Police in Victoria and the Northern Territory, and local government employees in Tasmania are also employed outside of the national system.

Glued to your phone on weekends because of work? Help could be on the way.

WHY IS IT HAPPENING?

The Greens pushed for “the right to disconnect” as a condition of their support for the government’s Fair Work bill, which passed the parliament in February.

“Whether you’re a nurse, teacher, or hospo worker, the Greens believe you shouldn’t have to answer calls or texts from your boss on your day off or after hours if you’re not being paid for it,” Greens leader Adam Bandt said at the time.

The rationale for the law is simple: it’s a health issue.

A report from the Australia Institute last year found Australian employers were “stealing” more than 280 hours from their employees each year, and workers aged 18-29 were the most affected.

Another survey from the Centre for Future Work found employees who were doing overtime were experiencing increased tiredness and stress, and a sense of being mentally drained.

Leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Associate Professor Chris Wright from Sydney University Business School. Picture: Supplied

Chris Wright, an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney, said the increasing out-of-hours demands made on Australian workers was negatively impacting their wellbeing, and also the level of satisfaction they felt with work.

“It’s important to emphasise that Australian workplaces are characterised by long hours by OECD standards,” he said.

“The boundary between work and non-work has become very, very porous and that hasn’t been healthy. So the law is an attempt to re-establish that boundary.”

DO OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE THE RIGHT TO DISCONNECT?

Australia is not alone. France was the first country to introduce the right to disconnect, but other countries have similar provisions for workers, including Italy, Slovakia, Canada, Portugal, Belgium and Argentina. Keir Starmer’s recently-elected Labour government in the UK has said they will introduce similar legislation.

Rather than legislating, Ireland introduced a Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke. Picture: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

WHAT IS REASONABLE AND WHAT IS UNREASONABLE?

The Fair Work Ombudsman has said several factors will be considered when determining whether a contact is reasonable or not, including the reasons for it, how it is made, how disruptive it is, the employee’s level of responsibility and whether they are compensated for occasional after-hours work.

And in interviews, Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has indicated a number of after-hours contacts that will be deemed reasonable.

An employer calling a worker to see if they can fill a shift? That’s reasonable.

A boss emailing a staffer about work matters for their attention on their next shift? That’s also reasonable.

HOW WILL IT WORK?

If employees feel as if after-hours phone calls, text and emails from their workplace are a problem, they are urged to sort it out at the workplace level.

If that fails, both workers and bosses have the right to take the matter to the Fair Work Commission to deal with the matter.

The Fair Work Commission can opt to resolve the issue by holding a conference between the two parties. It can also issue “stop orders” – legally binding directions that oblige an employer from making unreasonable after-hours contact, or employees from ignoring after-hours contact that is in fact reasonable.

The new amendments to the Fair Work Act also protect employees from being sacked, demoted or overlooked for promotion if they choose to exercise their right to disconnect after hours.

Workers in Sydney’s George Street. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Monique Harmer

WHO’S IN FAVOUR?

Workers. A YouGov survey in March found overwhelming support for the right to disconnect (86 per cent).

The Unions have also backed the new laws.

The Australian Federal Police Association was just one organisation strongly in favour of the law, saying it would improve mental health outcomes in a profession that is in its nature “incredibly demanding”.

WHO’S AGAINST?

In politics: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has said he will repeal the right to disconnect, arguing it will lead to a loss in productivity.

Business groups: The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has argued the law will be “highly impractical and fundamentally incompatible with modern, flexible workplaces”.

Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Bran Black said “Everyone deserves to be able to switch off at home,” but switch off rules “would be better dealt with at the workplace level rather than through new laws”.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Bran Black. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“The combined effect of the Government’s new laws, including new definitions for casual employees and independent contractors, will increase red tape and union power, while reducing productivity and hitting our economy at the worst possible time,” he said.

SO WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN FOR AUSTRALIAN WORKPLACES?

The Federal Government backed the administration of the right to disconnect law in this year’s Budget: the Fair Work Commission will grow by 15 staff this financial year, while the Fair Work Ombudsman was allocated an extra $500,000 to assist with the implementation of the new regime.

But Assoc Prof Chris Wright said that is not where the big change will take place.

“My prediction about the right to disconnect laws is that I doubt we’ll see that many cases brought to the Fair Work Commission,” he said.

“But I think we’re already seeing a change in workplace cultures. We’re already seeing a lot of organisations doing the due diligence in anticipation of the laws, putting in place mechanisms to support managers and staff.”

Assoc Prof Wright said the tertiary education, local government and finance sectors were three areas that all seemed to be on the front foot in terms of ensuring staff were aware of the right to disconnect law, and what it meant.

The Public Service Commission has advised managers discuss the terms of after-hours contact with their employees before it comes up as a problem.

“These discussions may occur in a range of forums, including recruitment and on boarding discussions, performance discussions, one-on-one catch-ups, team meetings, and planning sessions,” the Commission suggested in recent advice to managers.

Originally published as Right to disconnect laws: Huge change coming to Australian workplaces