The Right to Disconnect might be new for small businesses, but the real work is in unlearning some very normal habits.
With the Right to Disconnect coming into effect for small businesses in August, there’s been a bit of a scramble to “get ready”, with ‘to-do’ lists including checking award coverage, updating contracts, maybe drafting a policy. All important steps.
But the truth is, the law itself isn’t that complicated. What’s tricky is what we’re used to.
For a lot of workplaces, and especially for small, close-knit teams, the boundaries between work and time off have always been a bit blurry. Someone sends a late text about a roster change. A manager shoots off an email on Sunday night because they’re catching up. You leave it open-ended – “no rush” – but people still feel the need to respond.
These aren’t exactly malicious moves. They’re just habits. And that’s where this new law will actually push us to think differently.
It’s not about banning after-hours contact
Plenty of people hear “Right to Disconnect” and assume it means you can’t message staff after 5pm. That’s not quite it. It’s more about making sure people aren’t penalised for choosing not to respond outside their usual work hours, unless it’s truly urgent or part of their role.
In a bigger business, this might be a matter of updating policies and running some manager training. But in small businesses, where everything runs a bit more informally, it’s often the everyday stuff that gets you into grey areas.
Remember the Queensland teacher case?
You may have seen the the headlines. A teacher is currently taking her former employer to court, claiming she was dismissed in part because she didn’t respond to messages sent during school holidays, and she’s citing her Right to Disconnect. It’s a complex case, and the right is only one part of it, but it shows exactly how blurred lines around availability and leave can escalate.
No one’s saying you can’t ever contact staff outside hours. But this case highlights what can go wrong when there’s no shared understanding of what reasonable contact looks like, and when managers act without thinking about timing, tone, or context.
So what’s actually worth looking at?
If you’re a small business, there’s a good chance you’ve built your team culture around flexibility, goodwill, and getting things done. That’s a strength, but it’s also where the boundaries can get fuzzy. The Right to Disconnect is really about drawing clearer lines and checking whether your current ways of working unintentionally cross them.
Here are a few things to stop and think about:
1. Is there an unspoken “always available” expectation?
You might not ask your team to respond after hours, but if messages are flying in outside work time and no one’s pushing back, people may feel they’re expected to stay switched on. This is especially common in tight-knit teams where people want to be seen as helpful or committed.
What you could do: Start with an open conversation. Ask your team how they feel about contact after hours and what would help them switch off properly.
2. Are your managers leading by example, or unintentionally setting the wrong tone?
Most “boundary creep” comes from leadership, even when it’s unintentional. A manager who sends emails late at night, says “quick favour” on a Saturday, or starts disciplinary processes during someone’s leave may not mean harm, but it sends a signal that work time isn’t really protected.
What you could do: Look at ways to help managers understand what the law actually says, and that how they communicate matters just as much as what they say.
3. Do people know it’s okay to not reply immediately?
Even with a policy in place, if no one’s saying “you don’t need to respond to this now,” staff may still feel the pressure to reply, especially if they’ve been burned before for being “unavailable.”
What you could do: Normalise delayed replies outside work hours. Use tools like scheduled emails, and model that it’s actually fine not to respond until the next workday.
4. Do your contracts and pay structures match your expectations?
If someone’s being regularly contacted after hours as part of their role, even just occasionally, make sure their pay reflects that. For award-covered staff, this might mean allowances or overtime. For salaried staff, it might be about whether the expectation is reasonable based on their seniority and contract.
What you could do: Review your contracts, especially for roles that involve on-call or out-of-hours responsibilities. Make sure expectations are clear, fair, and properly compensated.
5. Have you actually written any of this down?
A lot of small businesses operate on trust and shared understanding, but that doesn’t always hold up when there’s a disagreement. Having a clear, simple Right to Disconnect policy doesn’t just help with compliance; it gives your team a shared reference point when things feel unclear.
What you could do: Put something on paper (it doesn’t need to be long or legalistic), and walk your team through it. Use real examples of what would and wouldn’t be considered reasonable contact.
What next?
For employers, especially in small teams where roles blur and people often wear multiple hats, that can be tricky to navigate. It’s not always obvious what counts as “reasonable” contact, or how to manage tricky situations like performance concerns, leave, or genuinely time-sensitive issues.
If you’re still unsure how this applies to your team, or you want a second set of eyes on your policies, contracts or communication practices, we’re here to help.
Feel free to reach out if you’d like to talk through what these changes mean for your workplace, and how to make them work without disrupting everything else on your plate. You can give us a call on 03 9087 6949 or email us at support@workplacewizards.com.au
