A new era of employment law has started. Most employees are no longer obliged to answer phones or emails from their employers outside of working hours.
However, this is not a restraint on employers attempting to contact employees. It just means employees are not obliged to answer or respond to their employers outside of working hours. The new laws apply to businesses with more than 15 employees. For businesses with less than 15 employees, the new laws will apply from 22 August 2025. Where disputes arise about the new laws, the legislation provides for an attempt to resolve the issues within the workplace before escalating it for external resolution through the Fair Work Commission.
The main principle behind the new laws is that if you work, you should get paid. The aim is to improve life/work balance, wellbeing and general satisfaction of employees, as well as provide boundaries to employers. An uncertain aspect to be tested about the new laws is that employees can only refuse to connect if such refusal is not unreasonable.
Any unreasonableness will depend on the individual circumstances of each case, yet to be tested. There are also specific roles that call for some employees to expect to be contactable at irregular times, for which workers are specifically compensated in their work contracts.
Penalties for breaching the new right to disconnect employment laws include up to $18,780 for an individual employer or $93,900 for a corporate employer entity per contravention.
Cecilia Castle is an Accredited Specialist in Family Law, and principal of Castle Lawyers at Asquith. CastleLawyers.com.au
