Big change coming for millions of workers on Monday – and bosses won’t be happy

Starting Monday, new federal laws will come into effect that regulate the “right to be offline.” These laws will legally protect employees from being required to answer non-urgent calls and emails outside of work hours.

From August 26, employees of large companies will be allowed to refuse to answer ‘unreasonable’ phone calls from their employer after work hours. Not answering the phone is unreasonable if the contact is required by law.

If the law does not require a response to the phone call or email, reasonableness is assessed based on the level of responsibility of the employee’s job, how disruptive the contact was, and whether the employee received compensation for it.

The Fair Work Commission is the point of contact for employees and employers to lodge complaints.

Companies that violate the rules, including individual employees, could be fined up to $19,800.

The changes do not prohibit an employer from sending the email or message outside of working hours.

The new laws will apply to companies with 15 or more employees from 26 August 2025. Smaller companies will have 12 months to adapt to the change.

While some business leaders believe the changes will hurt productivity, one study found that the right to be offline can increase staff retention by 40 percent.

New federal ‘right to disconnect’ laws go into effect Monday, legally protecting workers from being required to take non-urgent calls and respond to emails outside of work hours (stock image)

A long-term analysis of 24,000 employees has found that the right not to be on call 24/7 increases productivity and retention, research shows.

The business management platform Nimbus followed 24,000 employees over five years and concluded that companies that apply the ‘do not disturb’ principle retain their staff longer.

“These new laws (the right to be offline) are not a barrier to productivity, but can actually help improve it if organisations accept that they now need to work with their staff and provide them with the tools to improve their work-life balance,” said Grant Custance, CEO of Nimbus.

‘It is good to better motivate the right people with the right skills, because they know what to expect with their working hours.’

Mr Custance founded Open Wave in 1998, which four years later was the scheduling software used in 80 per cent of Australia’s call centres. The company was acquired in 2011, and in 2015 he founded the company that would later become Nimbus.

Telstra uses Nimbus technology to forward calls during natural disasters, and global security giant Serco uses Nimbus globally.

The Nimbus app is installed on employees’ phones and they can set a time period during which they are not allowed to be disturbed.

Nimbus tracked 24,000 employees at ‘some of Australia’s most iconic retailers’ over five years. Those businesses where staff used the Do Not Disturb feature retained 40 percent more staff on average.

According to Michael Clark, former director of the Fair Work Ombudsman, ‘many organisations have yet to realise’ that the relationship between employee and employer has changed.

“Gone are the days of getting a text or a call from your boss at 6 a.m. asking you to come into work today,” Clark said.

“The right to disconnect puts an end to this outdated practice and puts the power over when messages are received in the hands of the employee.”

From August 26, employees of large companies will be allowed to refuse to answer ‘unreasonable’ phone calls from their employer after work hours. Not answering the phone is unreasonable if the contact is required by law (stock image)