The Fair Work Act 2009 has been updated under the Closing Loopholes reforms to include the “right to disconnect,” giving employees the ability to ignore unreasonable work-related contact outside their ordinary hours.

This means employees are not required to monitor, read, or respond to calls, emails, or messages outside of work unless the contact is considered reasonable.

Contact may be reasonable depending on:

• the reason for the contact (e.g. emergency vs routine),
• how disruptive it is,
• the employee’s role and level of pay,
• family or caring responsibilities, and
• any agreed arrangements, such as being on-call.

If a disagreement arises, the Fair Work Commission can deal with disputes and may issue orders about contact.

Employers should:

• review after-hours contact practices,
• update policies to reflect the new right, and
• train managers to respect boundaries.

In short, employees are entitled to switch off outside work hours unless there’s a genuine, reasonable need for contact.

IR Support

Full Cotton Australia levy payers are entitled to a 15-minute IR consultation with Wayne Schwalbach from Employment Mediation Services (0447 935 416) to assist with workplace questions.