Right to Disconnect — Civil Penalty Calculator
$21,840 individual / $109,200 small-business body corporate / $546,000 body corporate with 15+ employees per contravention from 1 July 2026. Calculate the total maximum penalty exposure across multiple contact incidents. Useful for employers assessing risk and employees considering FWO complaints.
Last verified: 2 August 2026Each unreasonable out-of-hours contact can be a separate contravention. The penalty multiplier is per contravention, not per employee — but each affected employee can have multiple contraventions.
Penalty exposure scenario
Estimate the maximum civil penalty under section 333M of the Fair Work Act 2009. Maximums are rarely imposed in full — courts apply discretion.
Maximum exposure
$1,092,000
10 contraventions total (10 × 1 employees)
Body corporate exposure: $1,092,000 ($109,200 × 10)
Penalty unit rate: $364 (from 1 July 2026). Body corporate = 300 units = $109,200/contravention if it has fewer than 15 employees, or 1,500 units = $546,000 if it has 15 or more. Individual = 60 units = $21,840/contravention. Adjusts with the Crimes Act 1914 indexation.
How the penalty stacks
- Per-contravention basis. Each unreasonable contact incident is a separate contravention. 10 unwanted out-of-hours emails over 6 months = 10 contraventions, not 1.
- Body corporate vs individual. The employer entity (Pty Ltd, etc.) faces the higher penalty — $109,200 per contravention with fewer than 15 employees, $546,000 with 15 or more. Individual managers who personally engaged in the contact can also face the individual penalty ($21,840) on top — accessorial liability under section 550 Fair Work Act.
- Per-employee cumulative. If multiple employees are affected, contraventions per employee accumulate. 5 employees × 10 contacts = 50 contraventions = up to $5,460,000 maximum exposure for a body corporate.
- Court discretion. Maximum penalties are rarely imposed in full — courts assess seriousness, prior history, contrition, and impact. But the maximum is the ceiling.
Reasonable vs unreasonable contact
Not all out-of-hours contact contravenes the law. Factors the FWC considers (s.333M(3)): the reason for contact, how intrusive it is, whether the employee is compensated, the employee's role and responsibility, and personal circumstances. A genuinely urgent operational issue may be reasonable. Routine non-urgent contact during personal time generally is not. See the Right to Disconnect Eligibility tool to test specific scenarios.
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General information and estimates only — not legal, financial or tax advice. Always check your specific award, agreement or contract, or a qualified professional, before you rely on the result.