How to prepare for 'right to disconnect' laws

South Australian Business News • Industrial Relations

Elisa Luck

Thursday, July 25th 2024

What you can do to prepare:

On 11 May 2024 The Fair Work Commission issued a statement to vary modern awards to include a right to disconnect term.

This follows the passage of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act 2024 (Cth), that the FWC is required to vary all modern awards to include a right to disconnect term by 26 August 2024. FWC is also required to make guidelines about the operation of the right to disconnect. There is no legislative deadline for the making of the guidelines.

Following the consultation process the FWC developed a draft ‘Employee right to disconnect’ term. The right to disconnect term is in draft and final determinations varying modern awards will be published by 23 August 2024.

The determinations will commence operation on 26 August 2024 for employers other than small business employers, and on 26 August 2025 for small business employers.

What employers can do to prepare:

In preparation of these changes coming into effect consider:

the forms of outside working hours communications you currently use in your business and whether these could be claimed to be ‘unreasonable’ by an employee. Also, have a think about how you will challenge or otherwise work around this if it is unreasonable.
educating managers and where relevant employees on your expectations for contact outside working hours and why.
whether you need to draft and implement a policy (or at least a policy position) in respect of outside working hours communication.
reviewing and potentially amending contracts of employment to ensure that if an employee is being paid above a minimum award rate, part of their remuneration is specifically stated as being paid in contemplation of outside work hours communication.
encouraging managers to respect employees’ reasonable privacy outside of their working hours and avoid unnecessary contact.
implementing a procedure for employees to follow if they consider that they have concerns that their manager/supervisor is contacting them unreasonably outside of their working hours.

You can read the Statement and look at the draft term here.

We will continue to keep you advised of the right to disconnect. If you have any questions or need support to implement any of the above activities, give us a call on the Business Advice Hotline on (08) 8300 0000 (select option 1).