Right to disconnect for small business employees now law

From August 25th, employees have the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) outside their working hours, unless doing so is unreasonable. This includes contact (or attempted contact) from an employer or a third party.

The right to disconnect rules don’t make it unlawful for an employer to contact an employee outside working hours. Instead, they give employees a right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to the contact, unless doing so is unreasonable.

All awards include a right to disconnect clause.

To understand your obligations and the specifics more help is available at

Fairwork – Right to disconnect