Proactive schools embrace ‘Right to Disconnect’ laws
In our article The Right to Disconnect: Know your rights*, published in Class Action September 2024, we alerted members that as of 26 August 2024 laws have been introduced that give workers the ‘right to disconnect’.
These laws are the direct result of unions—including the IEU—conducting extensive campaigns in support of the Closing Loopholes Bill #2 introduced by the federal Labor government in 2024, and builds on a 2-year reform program that has delivered much fairer Australian workplaces.**
What does the right to disconnect mean?
The right to disconnect means that you can refuse to monitor, read, or respond to contact or attempted contact outside your working hours. This includes contact, or attempted contact, from your school, principal, colleague, parent or student; provided the contact or attempted contact is work-related.
Your refusal to monitor read or respond needs to be reasonable.
What is reasonable will depend on the circumstances. The Fair Work Ombudsman^ has some factors which must be considered:
- The reason for the contact
- How the contact is made and how disruptive it is to the employee
- How much the employee is compensated or paid extra for:
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- being available to perform work during the period they’re contacted, or
- working additional hours outside their ordinary hours of work
- the employee’s role in the business and level of responsibility
- the employee’s personal circumstances, including family or caring responsibilities.
We applaud proactive schools for their uptake and enactment
As part of our member recognition/services, we emailed all education support staff on May 16, at 7.30am, to celebrate World Support Staff Day. We wanted our message to be there for staff on arrival at work on the day.
We were pleasantly surprised to see ‘Out of office replies’ from staff emails at the following schools:
- Blackfriars Prior School
- Cabra Dominican College
- St Michael’s College
- St Paul’s College
- St Peter’s Woodlands Grammar School
We thank these schools, and any school that has subsequently set up this notification of ‘right to disconnect’ for their staff, and urge other schools to follow suit.
The right to disconnect is at the discretion of the staff member and that is how the legislation should assist workers. It should allow them to do their job flexibly, but with the right to disconnect, recover and enjoy their personal life before the next working day.
If members are concerned that their workplace is not complying with these laws, they should contact our office on 8410 0122 or enquiries@ieusa.org.au
Sources:
* https://ieusa.org.au/the-right-to-disconnect
** https://ieusa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IEU-Speaks-on-the-right-to-disconnect.pdf
