Employees in Australia now have the right to disconnect from their employers outside of working hours, pursuant to a new law which came into force for non-small businesses on Monday. This means that employees now have a right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from an employer or work-related contact from a third party outside of contracted working hours unless such refusal is unreasonable.

In determining whether a refusal to engage is “unreasonable,” the law provides a non-exhaustive list of factors that must be taken into account, including:

• the reason for the contact or attempted contact;
• how the contact or attempted contact is made and the level of disruption caused to the employee;
• the extent to which the employee is compensated;
• the nature of the employee’s role and level of responsibility; and
• the employee’s personal circumstances (including family or caring responsibilities).

The law contains a dispute resolution process if there is a dispute as to whether a refusal of contact is reasonable. The dispute resolution process begins with discussion and then can be escalated by either party to the Fair Work Commission (FWC). This could potentially result in the FWC issuing an order to stop refusing contact.

The FWC is currently working to produce written guidelines on how the right to disconnect will work within modern awards. A modern award is a document that “sets out the minimum terms and conditions of employment” for employees covered by the national workplace relations system. The FWC has suggested that the publication of those guidelines will follow an observation period of how the right comes to operate in practice. In the meantime, the FWC expects to publish all updated modern award terms by September 2.

The new law was passed on 26 February, making several amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions described the new law as a “cost-of-living win for working people.” According to the media release, “[t]he new rights are expected to reduce the amount of unpaid work hours Australians currently perform, which the Centre for Future Work estimates at an average for each worker of 5.4 hours per week or 230 hours a year, equating to $131 billion in unpaid work annually.” The new laws are also considered a much-needed step forward for mental health and the mitigation of workplace injuries.

The law will come into force for small businesses on August 26, 2025.