The right to disconnect

The right to disconnect (RTD) under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) took effect from 26 August 2024, or 26 August 2025 for small business employers.

The RTD allows employees to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact or attempted contact from an employer or third party (such as a client or supplier), if the contact relates to the employee’s work and it is outside of the employee’s working hours, unless the employee’s refusal is unreasonable.

There are several factors in the FW Act that are relevant in determining whether any refusal is unreasonable:

• what is the reason for the contact or attempted contact.
• how the contact or attempted contact is made, and the level of disruption caused by such contact.
• whether the employee is compensated to remain available to perform work during the period in which the contact or attempted contact is made, or for working additional hours outside of their ordinary hours of work.
• the employee’s role and level of responsibility.
• the employee’s personal circumstances, including family or caring responsibilities.

Does this mean that employers cannot contact employees outside of their working hours?

The RTD clause does not prevent employers from attempting to contact an employee. However, employers cannot require employees to check or respond to messages outside of work hours if it is reasonable for the employee to refuse.

Before contacting or attempting to contact an employee outside of their working hours, employers should ask themselves whether the reason for the contact is urgent or not. If not, it would be safer for the employer to wait until the employee is next at work.

In some instances, it may be appropriate for an employer to contact employees outside of their working hours e.g. another staff member has called in sick, and the employer needs someone else to cover their shift. In this example, the contact or attempted contact would likely be considered reasonable, and it would be reasonable to expect a response from the employee.

Our clients and suppliers sometimes contact our staff outside of working hours, how do we manage that?

The employer should communicate to clients and suppliers that the business does not expect their employees to be available outside of their normal working hours, and any responses from employees should be expected during normal business hours.