If you’ve ever answered an email before bed, texted your boss outside of work hours, or received an “urgent” work call after work, you’ll be happy to hear that you can now get some peace and quiet.

A new right to time off work is now in force for workers in companies with 15 or more employees. This is a welcome response to the growing problem of ‘availability creep’, where work demands encroach on employees’ free time.

The new law means that most employees can now refuse to monitor and respond to inappropriate contact from their employer about work matters outside of paid working hours.

Many of us are now online and digitally connected to our workplace 24/7. This constant connectivity can make it difficult to avoid work calls, texts and emails when you are not at work.
Because we are so easily accessible anywhere and at any time, our free time and family time are very often interrupted by work, resulting in unpaid overtime, the inability to “switch off” and blurred boundaries between work time and free time. Gone are the days of 8 hours work, 8 hours rest and 8 hours free time.

The consequences are serious. Studies have shown that these working practices lead to increased stress, health problems and a poor work-life balance. The right to switch off from work is a solution to the problems of increasing availability and unpaid overtime.

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The Australian Senate Special Committee on Work and Care proposed this reform of Australia’s employment law in early 2023. The initiative was included in the government’s loophole-closing employment reform package, which was passed by the Federal Parliament later that year. Similar law exists in a number of other countries, including France, Canada and the Philippines.

Australia’s new right to disconnect does not mean there is a blanket ban on contacting employees outside of their scheduled working hours. Rather, it means an employee cannot be penalised for refusing inappropriate contact.

There are many circumstances in which attempts by a manager to contact an employee outside of working hours may be appropriate. For example, this might be the case if an employee is on call and receives an on-call allowance.