Right to disconnect in Australia: when you can leave the boss's late message until morning

In Australia you can refuse to monitor, read or respond to work messages, emails and calls outside your working hours, unless that refusal would be unreasonable. Employees of larger employers have had this right since 26 August 2024 and employees of small businesses (fewer than 15 employees) since 26 August 2025, so it now applies whatever the size of the business. It does not stop anyone sending the message: it protects your choice to deal with it once you are back at work.

As a recruiter, I hear some version of this question from candidates in almost every sector: "Will I be expected to answer my phone at night?" Below is what the rule actually says, who it covers, where the line sits between a fair and an unreasonable refusal, and how to raise after-hours expectations before you sign an offer.

What the right to disconnect lets you refuse

The rule is about your response, not about the contact itself. Fair Work's right to disconnect page names three things you can refuse to do outside working hours:

• Monitor: you don't have to keep checking email, the team chat or your phone in case something comes in.
• Read: you can leave a message unopened until your next shift starts.
• Respond: you don't have to reply, call back or act on a request until you are working again.

It covers contact from your employer and from third parties. In practice that means a client, a customer or anyone else getting in touch with you about work, not only your manager.

Just as important is what the rule does not do. Fair Work says it doesn't make out-of-hours contact unlawful. Your supervisor can still send a late email or a Sunday roster change. What changed is that you are allowed to leave it until you are on the clock again, as long as that refusal is not unreasonable.

Start dates: who is covered and since when

The right came in two stages, depending on how many people the employer has. For anyone starting a job in Australia now, both dates have passed.

Every award includes a right to disconnect clause, so if an award covers your role, read it alongside the general rule. Our guide to finding your modern award code shows how to work out which award applies before you accept an offer.

When saying no could be unreasonable

The right comes with one condition: the refusal must not be unreasonable. The law sets out the factors used to decide this, and Fair Work's page explains them, so read them there if you face a real situation you are unsure about. From a recruiter's chair, most disputes turn on a few practical questions.

• Is it a genuine emergency? A call about a safety problem on site is not the same as a request to tidy up a slide deck.
• Are you paid to be available? If you have agreed to an on-call roster, or your pay is set up to cover availability, ignoring the phone during that time is very different from ignoring it on an ordinary evening.
• What does your role involve? A manager responsible for a whole site may reasonably be expected to handle more than a junior team member.
• How is the contact made, and how often? One text about tomorrow's start time is a world away from nightly calls asking for work to be done.
• What are your own circumstances? Caring for children or a family member can make a late call much harder to take.

These prompts are a starting point, not the legal test. If a disagreement becomes serious, get advice from the Fair Work Ombudsman (contact details below) rather than relying on what a colleague thinks the rule means.

How after-hours contact fits with hours, overtime and pay

The right to disconnect sits on top of rules that already shape your week. Under the National Employment Standards, an employee can work a maximum of 38 hours a week unless the employer asks for reasonable extra hours, as Fair Work's hours of work page explains.

Work outside the ordinary hours in your award or agreement is overtime, usually paid at a higher rate, and some awards and agreements allow time off in lieu (TOIL) instead. Penalty rates can also apply for evenings, weekends and public holidays, depending on the award or registered agreement that covers you.

Our guide to penalty rates in Australia shows what evening and weekend shifts should pay, so you can check those lines in an offer before you sign.

Salaried roles deserve a closer look. Fair Work says an employee on a salary, a contract or an individual flexibility arrangement must still be paid overall at least what the award or agreement would give them, including penalties and loadings. If a salaried role seems to expect you to be reachable every evening, ask how that time is counted and paid before you agree to it.

For the full map of these minimums, from the NES to safety duties, see our guide to workplace rights in Australia. For the everyday side of working life, from hours to speaking up, our guide to Australian workplace culture is a good companion read.

Questions to settle before you accept an offer

Most after-hours friction starts with expectations nobody said out loud. These steps put them on the table early.

1. Ask what after-hours contact looks like in the role: who might get in touch, by which channel and roughly how often.
2. Ask whether there is an on-call roster, how often you would be on it and how on-call time or availability is paid.
3. Find the award or enterprise agreement that covers the role and read its right to disconnect clause.
4. Read the Fair Work Information Statement, which employers must give every new employee before, or as soon as possible after, they start (casual employees also get the Casual Employment Information Statement).
5. Get anything you agree in writing, either in the contract or in a short email after the conversation.
6. From your first week, set your phone and email notifications to match the hours you agreed, and tell your team the best way to reach you for something urgent.

In an interview, a calm, specific question works well: "How does the team handle urgent issues outside hours, and is there an on-call roster?" It shows you are thinking about the job realistically, and a well-run employer should be able to answer it easily.

It also helps when your CV already shows how you handled rosters or on-call duties in past roles. Build AI CV can help you set that out clearly, and a verified profile on Talent Tabloid lets an employer see your work history before the interview.

It matters most in leadership roles. If you are looking at a position such as this Childcare Centre Manager job in Bendigo, ask early how out-of-hours issues are handled and who covers them when you are off. You can compare similar roles in our education sector listings.

How to decline without damaging the relationship

Using the right well is mostly about tone. Not responding tonight does not have to mean silence forever; it means moving your reply into working time. Here are a few ways to handle the common situations:

• A non-urgent email at night: reply first thing the next morning, for example "Thanks, I saw this when I started today and will have it to you by midday."
• A pattern of late messages: raise it during work hours, for example "I want to stay on top of things during my shifts. Could we agree that anything urgent after hours comes by phone, and everything else waits until the morning?"
• Clients in other time zones: an automatic reply that gives your working hours and who to contact in an emergency, agreed with your manager first.

For employers: making after-hours expectations clear

Small business employers have been covered since 26 August 2025, and the contact itself is still lawful. The real risk is in how a business reacts when an employee reasonably chooses not to answer.

The simplest fix is clarity. Decide which roles genuinely need on-call cover, agree how that cover is paid, and say so in the job ad, at interview and in the contract. Give staff one channel for genuine emergencies and let everything else wait for the morning.

Visa holders have the same right

Visa holders and migrant workers have the same workplace rights and protections as all other employees in Australia, including pay, leave, protection from discrimination and final pay. The right to disconnect applies to them as employees in the same way.

Some sponsored workers worry that saying no will put their visa at risk. As Fair Work's guidance for visa holders explains, an employer can't cancel a worker's visa: only Home Affairs can grant, refuse or cancel visas, and contacting the Fair Work Ombudsman will not get a visa cancelled.

For help in another language, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450 and ask them to call the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.

Common mistakes

• Treating every late message as illegal. Contact outside hours is not unlawful; the right is about whether you have to deal with it.
• Assuming a salary means always available. Salaried employees must still be paid overall at least the award or agreement amount, and the right to disconnect applies to them too.
• Going quiet during an agreed on-call period. If you are paid or rostered to be available, refusing then is far more likely to be unreasonable.
• Skipping the award clause. Every award has a right to disconnect clause; read yours instead of relying on general summaries.
• Thinking small businesses are exempt. That stopped on 26 August 2025.
• Saying nothing at the offer stage. Expectations that are never discussed tend to turn into resentment on both sides.

Frequently asked questions

Does the right to disconnect apply to small businesses?

Yes. Employees of small business employers, meaning businesses with fewer than 15 employees, have had the right since 26 August 2025. Employees of larger employers have had it since 26 August 2024, so both groups are now covered.

Is it illegal for my employer to contact me after hours?

No. Fair Work says the right to disconnect rules don't make out-of-hours contact unlawful. Your employer can still send a message; the rule protects your choice not to monitor, read or respond to it, unless that refusal is unreasonable.

Can I ignore a client or customer who contacts me outside working hours?

The right covers contact from third parties as well as from your employer, so the same test applies. You can leave the message until you are working again unless refusing would be unreasonable, for example during an on-call period you have agreed to.

When is refusing after-hours contact unreasonable?

It depends on the situation: whether it is a genuine emergency, whether you are paid to be available, what your role involves, how the contact is made and your personal circumstances. The law lists the factors, and Fair Work's right to disconnect page explains them.

Do visa holders have the right to disconnect?

Visa holders and migrant workers have the same workplace rights and protections as other employees in Australia. An employer cannot cancel a visa, and contacting the Fair Work Ombudsman for help will not get a visa cancelled.

Key takeaways

• You can refuse to monitor, read or respond to work contact outside working hours unless the refusal is unreasonable.
• Larger employers have been covered since 26 August 2024 and small businesses since 26 August 2025.
• After-hours contact is not unlawful; the right protects your response, including to clients and customers.
• On-call duties, emergencies, your role and your circumstances all affect whether a refusal is reasonable.
• Ask about after-hours expectations before you sign, and get the answer in writing.