An employees right to disconnect from work

As seen in Woopi News December 2024

All awards now include a right to disconnect clause. This means an employer shouldn’t contact an employee regarding work matters outside their usual working hours unless it’s reasonable to do so and the employee is the person who determines if the contact is reasonable or unreasonable.

In some awards there are exceptions for emergency roster changes, stand-by and call back clauses but in most cases, an employer must not stop an employee from using their right to disconnect.

An employee may be required to monitor emails or respond to calls from their employer or manager outside their normal work hours, particularly where they are paid an on-call allowance. This is acceptable provided the employee has agreed to the terms of when this would apply. Let’s face it, employees want work life balance and to avoid burnout and employers should want this too, if they want to retain good staff.

When these provisions apply from, depends on the size of the employer:

• 26th August 2024 for larger employers and their employees (15 or more)
• 26th August 2025 for small business employers and their employees

Where the employer and employee have an employment agreement in place, it should not conflict with their Award or the National Employment Standards (NES). Where there isn’t a relevant award, the NES still apply. It’s important to discuss with each employee, what they believe is reasonable and unreasonable contact outside of their usual work hours. The written agreement should include what channels of communication are reasonable and what hours are unreasonable ie do not contact between 9pm and 6am. If the employee is not “on-call”, a quick question may be reasonable, but it may be unreasonable to requesting an employee logon and perform a task or leave their home to attend a job site. Communication and documentation are key to maintaining a happy workforce, as well as avoiding and resolving disputes.