Australia extends the ‘right to disconnect’ to small businesses

As of 26 August 2025, Australia’s ‘right to disconnect’ law now covers small businesses too, those with fewer than 15 employees, a year after it first commenced for larger companies on 26 August 2024.

Under the Fair Work Act, the law gives employees a statutory right to refuse contact from their employer, or from clients on work-related matters, outside their normal working hours, unless that refusal would be unreasonable.

Importantly, the law does not stop a manager from sending an email or a message after hours. What it protects is the employee’s right not to monitor, read or respond to that contact until they are back on the clock.

Whether a refusal counts as ‘unreasonable’ depends on factors such as the employee’s role, how they are being contacted, and whether they are being paid to remain available outside their normal hours.

More than a year after the law commenced for large employers, commentators are still debating how much it has really changed daily habits, since old expectations about instant replies do not disappear overnight just because a new statutory right now exists on paper.

Adapted from Fair Work Ombudsman and Baker McKenzie, August 2025