right to disconnect law australia

The right to disconnect law Australia employers have to work with is not standalone legislation. It sits inside the Fair Work Act, and where it sits changes the consequences.

Because it is a workplace right under the general protections provisions, an employer who takes adverse action against an employee for exercising it faces a general protections claim, not just a dispute about after-hours emails.

Adverse action is broad. It covers dismissal, changing a person’s position to their detriment, and discrimination between employees. A manager who quietly stops offering shifts or overtime to someone who declined a Sunday call has moved into that territory.

General protections matters also carry a reverse onus in some circumstances, which makes the reason behind a decision the employer’s to explain rather than the employee’s to prove.

The Fair Work Ombudsman publishes the detail. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

See Sentrient’s right to disconnect webinar and compliance training courses.