Right to disconnect to be extended
The ‘right to disconnect’ became law for larger businesses in August 2024.
From August 2025, employers with less than 15 employees will also have to comply with the new rules.
New Rules
In August 2024, the government brought in the ‘right to disconnect’.
This legislation gives employees the right to refuse to be contacted by their employer outside of usual working hours.
Previously, the ‘right to disconnect’ rules only applied to businesses with 15 employees or more.
From 26 August 2025, the same rights will apply for employees of small businesses with less than 15 employees – making this a mandatory requirement for all businesses.
How will the ‘right to disconnect’ affect your business?
Your employees will have the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) outside their usual agreed working hours.
Employees must be reasonable with this refusal (i.e. if refusing to connect affects their ability to carry out their role), but employers must also consider the rights of their team.
Whether a refusal is unreasonable will depend on the circumstances.
The following factors must be considered:
The reason for the contact
The nature of the employee's role and level of responsibility
The employee's personal circumstances
How the contact is made and how disruptive it is to the employee;
And any relevant extra pay or compensation they receive for working additional hours or remaining available to work out of hours
Talk to us about getting ready for the ‘right to disconnect’
If you are emailing, calling or messaging staff outside of work hours, this is behaviour will need to stop.
It’s important to have an employee communications strategy and communications channels that will adhere to the ‘right to disconnect’ rules.
Talk to our team about ways to implement a process that complies with the new rules, so you are ready for the August 2025 deadline.
