For free and confidential legal advice about this topic, please contact us here.
Most employees have set hours which they are expected to work. However, it’s not uncommon for bosses, or other people like clients (called ‘third parties’) to reach out after hours either on text, email or an app like WhatsApp. Under these new laws, you can now refuse to ‘monitor, read or respond’ to this contact, or attempted contact, but only if the refusal is ‘reasonable’.
This means that if your boss or a client emails you after hours asking you to do something out of hours, you can in most cases refuse to do the task, and can even refuse to read the emails or messages at all.
| Example
Usman is a new grad project manager in a civil construction company. He is on a fixed salary, and doesn’t receive any extra money for working out of hours. He finishes at approximately 5.30pm every day. Usman received several WhatsApp messages at 9pm one night from his boss asking him to review a contract with a supplier. Usman has already spoken with this new supplier, and has a meeting organised in a fortnight to discuss the terms of the contract. There is no reason why he has to review the contract that night. In this case, it would be reasonable for Usman to ‘disconnect’ from work after 5.30pm, which means he doesn’t have to monitor, read or respond to contact from his employer. |
For more information about what the right to disconnect is and for more examples, visit Fair Work Ombudsman: Right to disconnect.
Sometimes it might be considered unreasonable to ‘disconnect’ and refuse to respond to contact from an employer.
There are a few things that the law considers in deciding if the refusal would be unreasonable. They are:
A refusal would also be considered unreasonable if the reason the employer is making contact is required by law.
If your boss is telling you that you must monitor, read or respond to their contact out of hours, you can tell them that under these new laws, you have the right to refuse this request (if the refusal is reasonable). If they continue to tell you that you have to work outside your agreed hours, for example telling you that you must check your email on weekends, there are things you can do.
No. If your boss is requiring you to monitor, read or respond to contact outside of your agreed hours, and your refusal to do so is reasonable, they cannot take any kind of action against you like firing you or demoting you. These sorts of actions are called ‘adverse action’ and are against the law.
If your employer takes adverse action against you because you have reasonably refused contact, you can make what is called a ‘General Protections Application’ to the Fair Work Commission. It is called a general protections application because the right to disconnect is considered a ‘protected right’ under the law.
For more information on dismissals and general protections see Youth Law Australia: Dismissals in breach of the ‘general protections’.
These new laws commenced on 26 August 2024 for workers employed in businesses or organisations with more than 15 employees.
For people employed in a ‘small business’ of 15 or less employees, the laws operate from 26 August 2025.
For further information about the right to disconnect visit the Fair Work Ombudsman: Right to disconnect or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 (8.00am – 5.30pm, Monday to Friday).
If you have a problem or a question, you can send it to us today and we can provide you with free advice, information and referrals to help solve your problem. Just click on the button below.
Get help now