Employee’s right to disconnect

Employment Law: Employee’s right to disconnect

The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act 2024 (Closing Loopholes Act) is set to bring about various changes, including the ‘Right to Disconnect’ protecting an employee’s right to refuse contact from their employer outside of their work hours.

Although it is not always a clear-cut issue, employees may be able to refuse to respond to contact or attempted contact by their employer outside of their work hours.

Employers will not be allowed to dismiss or take any other adverse action against an employee, so long as their refusal to respond to the contact outside of their working hours is ‘reasonable’.

What is ‘reasonable’ will depend on a range of circumstances, including (but not limited to):

- the reason for the contact;

- how the contact was made;

- whether the level of an employee’s remuneration compensates them to remain available during the period in which the contact was made;

- the nature of the employee’s role; and

- the employee’s personal circumstances.

The Closing Loopholes Act will also empower the Fair Work Commission to deal with disputes between employers and employees regarding this right if the dispute cannot be resolved within the workplace.

Employers are advised to review their policies and procedures and be aware of the changes to the law to ensure their business (and staff) are complying with the new laws.

The changes are extensive and may be difficult to navigate for both employers and employees. For assistance, please contact the Employment Law Team at Marsdens to understand and further enquire about these changes.

The contents of this publication are for reference purposes only. This publication does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Specific legal advice should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication.