Right to Disconnect: Legal Obligations for Small Businesses by August 2025

From 26 August 2025, small business employers defined as those with fewer than 15 employees will be subject to the Right to Disconnect workplace obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

This change aligns them with larger businesses, which have been subject to these obligations since August 2024.

What Is the Right to Disconnect?

Under the provisions, eligible employees have the legal right to refuse to monitor, read, or respond to work-related contact from an employer or a third party outside their ordinary working hours, unless their refusal is deemed unreasonable.

This includes:

• Emails
• Phone calls
• Text messages
• Instant messages
• Any other form of work-related communication

Third parties can include clients, customers, contractors, or suppliers contacting the employee for work-related reasons.

What Is “Unreasonable Refusal”?

Reasonableness is based on several factors:

• The urgency and nature of the contact
• The employee’s role and level of responsibility
• Whether the employee is compensated for availability outside hours
• The disruption caused by the contact
• The employee’s personal circumstances, including caring responsibilities
• Whether the contact is required by law

Legal Implications for Employers and Failure to comply may result in:

• Stop orders issued by the Commission
• Legal penalties under general protections provisions
• Reputational damage and employee disengagement

What Small Businesses Should Do Now and how LMHR HR Consultants can help

To prepare for the August 2025 deadline, LMHR Consulting recommends:

Assess Communication Practices

• Audit after-hours contact (e.g. emails, calls).
• Identify roles where such contact is common.

Review Employment Contracts

• Check for clauses suggesting 24/7 availability
• Ensure roles requiring after-hours availability are clearly defined and compensated.

Update Policies and Procedures

• Include Right to Disconnect in policies.
• Define reasonable vs. unreasonable contact, how to raise concerns, and any exceptions e.g. emergencies or critical roles)

Educate Managers and Supervisors

• Educate all staff on the new law.
• Use examples to explain reasonable refusals and communication boundaries.
• Equip leaders with the knowledge to respect boundaries and handle urgent matters appropriately

Inform Clients and Third Parties

• Notify external contacts of your after-hours policy.
• Set clear expectations around availability.

One of the main drivers to this entitlement is to respect an employee’s personal time and support a healthier work life balance.

Promote Work-Life Boundaries

• Encourage tools like delayed emails and “do not disturb” settings.
• Leaders should model respectful after-hours behaviour.

LMHR Consulting: Your Compliance Partner

We specialise in all areas of Human Resources, including HR strategy, leadership coaching, and policy development. Our goal is to help small businesses stay ahead of legislative changes. If you need support preparing for the Right to Disconnect.

Our team of HR consultants is now available in  Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne

You can read more about this from fairwork.gov.au