Updated: April 2026

As of 26 August 2025, the Fair Work "Right to Disconnect" laws officially rolled out to small businesses (those with fewer than 15 employees). If you employ staff, you need to understand how this legislation impacts your ability to contact your team after hours.

1. What is the Right to Disconnect?

The Right to Disconnect gives employees the legal right to refuse to monitor, read, or respond to contact (or attempted contact) from their employer—or third parties like clients—outside of their ordinary working hours, unless their refusal is unreasonable.

This means if you email or text a staff member at 8:00 PM on a Friday, they generally have the right to ignore it until they clock in on Monday morning without facing disciplinary action.

2. Does this mean I can NEVER contact my staff after hours?

No, you can still send emails or messages after hours. The law does not ban employers from sending communications; it simply protects the employee's right not to reply immediately.

However, an employee's refusal to respond might be deemed unreasonable (meaning they must reply) based on several factors:

• The reason for the contact: Is it a genuine emergency, or just a routine question that could wait?
• The method of contact: An email that can be read the next day is different from calling their personal mobile and demanding an answer.
• The nature of their role: A senior manager on a high salary is reasonably expected to be more available after hours than a junior, minimum-wage employee.
• Compensation: Are they being paid an on-call allowance or a salary that explicitly compensates them for working outside normal hours?

3. What should small business owners do?

To ensure you stay compliant and maintain a good relationship with your team, consider these steps:

• Use scheduled send: If you work late, use the "schedule send" feature on your email so messages arrive in your employee's inbox at 9:00 AM the next day.
• Update employment contracts: If a role requires occasional after-hours contact, ensure this is clearly stated in their contract and that their remuneration reflects this expectation.
• Set clear expectations: Have a conversation with your team. Let them know that if they receive an email after hours, they are not expected to read or reply to it until their next shift (unless it is explicitly marked as an urgent emergency).

Next Steps: If you need help reviewing your employment contracts or understanding your payroll and employer obligations, contact Loyal Bright Accountants today!