Right to Disconnect: Now ALL Workers

The right to disconnect just got a whole lot bigger.

When this right was first introduced under section 149.1 of the Fair Work Act (via the Closing Loopholes No. 2 Act 2024), it only applied to employers with 15 or more employees — effective 26 August 2024. Small businesses got a grace period.

That grace period ended on 26 February 2026.

Every single Australian employee — whether you work at a 500-person company or a 3-person cafe — now has the legal right to disconnect from work outside your working hours. No exceptions based on employer size.

This is roughly 2.7 million additional workers who are now covered. If you work for a small business and your boss has been texting you at 9pm about tomorrow's roster, the law is now squarely on your side.

Let's be precise about what the law does and doesn't do.

The right to disconnect means you can refuse to monitor, read, or respond to contact from your employer (or related third parties like clients) outside your working hours — unless your refusal is unreasonable.

Key points:

• It does not ban your boss from contacting you. They can still send that 10pm email.
• It does give you the right to ignore it until your next working day.
• It applies to all forms of contact: calls, texts, emails, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp — anything.
• It covers contact from your employer directly and from third parties related to your work (e.g., clients, suppliers).

Think of it this way: your boss can shout into the void at midnight. You don't have to listen.

The law doesn't give you a blanket right to ignore everything. Whether your refusal is unreasonable depends on several factors set out in the legislation:

• The reason for the contact — a genuine emergency vs. a routine question
• How disruptive the contact is — a single text vs. repeated calls
• Whether you're compensated for being available — if you're paid an on-call allowance, the bar shifts
• Your role and level of responsibility — senior managers may have different expectations
• Your personal circumstances — caring responsibilities, health issues, etc.

Generally reasonable: Calling a nurse on-call about a patient emergency. Contacting a site manager about an overnight security breach. Reaching an IT worker during a critical system outage they're being paid standby for.

Generally unreasonable: Texting a retail worker at 11pm about a shift swap. Emailing a non-urgent project update at 9pm and expecting a reply. Calling a part-time admin worker on their day off about filing.

This is where it gets serious. If you exercise your right to disconnect, your employer cannot:

• Discipline you for not responding after hours
• Demote you or reduce your responsibilities
• Cut your hours or change your roster as punishment
• Fire you or make you redundant
• Give you a negative performance review citing "lack of availability"
• Pass you over for promotion because you "aren't committed enough"

Any of these actions would constitute adverse action under the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act. The penalties are steep:

• $19,800 per contravention for individuals (e.g., your manager personally)
• $99,000 per contravention for the company

If your employer retaliates, you can apply to the Fair Work Commission for a stop order. The Commission can also order compensation and reinstatement.

Knowing your rights is one thing. Actually using them when your boss is blowing up your phone at 8pm is another. Here's a step-by-step approach:

Step 1: Set boundaries proactively. Mute work notifications after your shift ends. Turn off email sync on your personal phone. If you use a work phone, leave it in a drawer. You don't need to explain this — it's your legal right.

Step 2: If it's raised, be direct. If your employer questions why you didn't respond last night, you can say: "Under section 149.1 of the Fair Work Act, I have the right to disconnect outside my working hours. That right now applies to all employers, including small businesses, as of February 2026."

Step 3: Escalate if needed. If your employer pushes back or retaliates, apply to the Fair Work Commission for a stop order. The FWC must first attempt to resolve it through mediation, but can issue binding orders if that fails.

Step 4: Keep records. Screenshot every after-hours message, missed call, and any comment from your employer about your availability. Dates, times, content. This is your evidence if you need to make a complaint.

Easter 2026 is this weekend. It's the perfect test case for the right to disconnect.

If your boss texts you on Good Friday asking you to come in — and you're not rostered — you have every right to not respond until your next working day. If they call you on Easter Sunday to discuss a non-urgent work matter, you can let it go to voicemail.

That's the law now. Whether your employer has 5 people or 5,000.

And if they give you grief about it on Tuesday morning? That's potentially adverse action — and you've got a paper trail (the after-hours contact) to prove it.

Public holidays make this especially clear-cut. You're not working. You're not being paid. You're not on call. There is no reasonable basis for expecting a response.

The right to disconnect isn't theoretical. Here's how it plays out in practice:

Scenario 1: Retail shift swap. Your manager texts you at 11pm on a Wednesday: "Can you cover Sarah's shift tomorrow morning?" You're not on-call. You don't respond until 7am the next day. Your right. The contact was non-urgent and disruptive.

Scenario 2: Hospital on-call. You're a nurse receiving an on-call allowance. The hospital calls at 2am about a patient emergency. Refusing would likely be unreasonable — you're compensated for availability and it's a genuine emergency.

Scenario 3: Non-urgent team email. Your manager sends a team-wide email at 9pm with next week's meeting agenda and a "please review before tomorrow." You read it at 8:30am the next day. Your right. Nothing about a meeting agenda is urgent enough to justify after-hours engagement.

Scenario 4: Client call on your day off. A client calls your personal phone on Saturday because your boss gave them your number. You don't answer. Your right. The law covers third-party contact related to your work.

Scenario 5: Small business owner. You work at a 4-person plumbing company. The owner texts you every evening about the next day's jobs. Before February 2026, the right to disconnect didn't cover you. Now it does. Same rules, same protections, same penalties.