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ARTICLE · 02 OCTOBER 2024

Will Australians Connect With The Right To Disconnect?

Seyfarth Shaw LLP
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The right to disconnect has been in the media a lot. But if we look behind the headlines, what impact is it actually going to have?...

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Erin Hawthorne
Erin Hawthorne
Elizabeth Tan
Elizabeth Tan
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The right to disconnect has been in the media a lot. But if we look behind the headlines, what impact is it actually going to have?

The new laws give employees a limited right to ignore work-related contact outside of working hours. This right is limited by what is reasonable. It does not:

  • outlaw reasonable out-of-hours contact; or
  • give employees rights to unreasonably ignore work-related communications.

Given the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) has always prohibited unreasonable additional work outside of ordinary hours, what – if anything – does the new right to disconnect actually add?

What can employers expect?

There are some new issues to navigate here:

  • Some employees may now wrongly choose to ignore contact that should have been actioned.

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