The Right to Disconnect Is a Payroll Problem, Not Just an HR One
The right to disconnect already applies to small business. Most advice on it talks about policy wording and culture. That misses the bigger risk entirely.
The real exposure sits in your payroll and your records, not your staff handbook.
What the Law Actually Says
Employees can refuse to monitor, read, or respond to work contact outside their working hours. This applies unless their refusal is unreasonable.
The law does not ban after-hours contact. It gives staff the right to refuse it in many cases.
A small business employer is one with fewer than 15 employees. This threshold decided when the law applied to you.
Why This Is Really About Payroll
Here is the part most guides skip. A policy saying staff are not expected to respond after hours does not help if work still happens off the clock.
If a manager sends a message at 8pm and someone responds that is potentially paid work. The question is whether your payroll process actually captures it.
This connects directly to overtime, time in lieu, and accurate recordkeeping. A culture policy alone does not solve any of that.
A Simple Example
A manager texts a staff member at 9pm, asking them to confirm tomorrow’s roster. The staff member replies and sorts it out.
Five minutes of work happened outside ordinary hours. Was it recorded? Was it paid? Most businesses have no clear answer.
This is the gap that creates real risk, far more than the wording of any policy document.
What Counts as Reasonable Contact
The law sets out factors to weigh up. Why the contact happened matters. An urgent system failure is different from a routine task that could wait.
How disruptive the contact was also matters. One email for tomorrow is different to repeated calls or pressure for an instant reply.
The employee’s role and personal circumstances matter too. Someone with caring responsibilities outside work hours may reasonably refuse contact that another employee would not.
The Three Things Most Businesses Get Wrong
Relying on text messages and calls instead of a tracked system. If contact happens through casual channels, there is no clear record of what was asked or when.
Having a policy with no matching payroll process. Saying staff are not expected to respond means little if managers keep sending tasks anyway.
No clear process for recording and paying for genuine after-hours work. If a response is required and work happens, it needs to be captured properly, not waved away as a quick favor.
What to Check in Your Own Business
Look at who is actually sending after-hours messages. Identify which managers do this, how often, and whether it is genuinely urgent.
Check whether your payroll software can capture this time. Confirm whether Xero, MYOB, or your current system has a clear way to record and pay for it.
Put a simple emergency contact process in writing. Define what counts as urgent enough to justify after-hours contact, and what does not.
Brief your managers directly. Most disputes start with a manager who has no idea the rules have changed, not a deliberate decision to ignore them.
Why Acting Now Matters
If you leave this until a dispute arises, you are updating policy, payroll settings, and manager habits all at once, under pressure.
Getting ahead of it now means a calmer, more deliberate fix. It also gives you a clear record if a dispute ever does arise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this mean I cannot contact staff after hours at all? No. You can still make contact. The change is that staff can refuse to engage with it, unless that refusal is unreasonable.
Does this apply to every small business? It applies to businesses with fewer than 15 employees operating under the national system. Some structures, like certain sole traders, may sit under state systems instead.
What if a genuine emergency happens after hours? Contact required by law, or genuinely urgent and serious, is generally considered reasonable. The factors are assessed case by case, not by a fixed rule.
Get Your Payroll Process Right Talk to Edulink
Right to disconnect is as much a payroll and recordkeeping issue as an HR one. Getting the system right protects your business either way.
Edulink Payroll Services manages payroll and compliance for small and medium businesses across greater Sydney and Campbelltown, with pricing from $750 per employee, per year.
Have more employees? Call us for a discounted rate.
📞 Call us today: 04 044 71 816
Edulink Payroll Services | Campbelltown & Greater Sydney | Call 04 044 71 816
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