Variation of modern awards to include a right to disconnect

Changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 created a formal workplace right that allows employees to disconnect from work outside of their usual work hours.

These changes started on:

• 26 August 2024 for non-small business employers
• 26 August 2025 for small business employers.

We added a right to disconnect term into all modern awards by 26 August 2024. On 21 November 2025 we published a statement explaining that we would delay creating written guidelines on how the right to disconnect works until there is enough case law to inform them. 

We held a consultation hearing about the process to create the right to disconnect term and guidelines (AM2024/14) in June 2024. Interested parties were able to request to attend by video link using Microsoft Teams.

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