Jim Courtwood
Author of the Time & Attendance Consultant's Guide Series

The Right to Disconnect and Modern Time & Attendance Systems 

1. What Is the Right to Disconnect? 
Australia’s Right to Disconnect law was introduced in August 2024 for businesses with 15 or more employees, and extended on 26 August 2025 to cover small businesses with fewer than 15 staff.  It empowers employees to refuse to monitor, read, or respond to work-related communications outside their standard hours, unless the refusal is unreasonable.

What counts as unreasonable is judged case by case, based on factors such as: 
  • The reason and urgency behind the contact 
  • The disruption caused 
  • Whether the employee is compensated for out-of-hours availability 
  • The nature of their role and their responsibilities 
  • The employee’s personal circumstances (e.g., caring duties) 

2. Fair Work Ombudsman Commission . 
Employees can refuse contact without fear of penalty, and disputes are initially addressed internally, escalating to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) if necessary. 
Early data shows this is already shifting workplace dynamics: a study by the Centre for Future Work reports a 33 % drop in unpaid overtime—especially among younger workers—from 5.4 to 3.6 hours per week. 

Why Time & Attendance Systems Matter 
Time‑and‑attendance systems are vital tools that record when employees begin and end work, hours worked, breaks taken, and sometimes overtime or availability. These systems support compliance, payroll accuracy, productivity measurement, and legal reporting. However, with the new disconnect rules, these systems must now align with employees' rights to be offline outside of their scheduled hours. This raises several important considerations: 

3. Potential Impacts on Time & Attendance Recording
(a)Accurately Recording Overtime & After Hours Work.
If an employee chooses not to respond to out-of-hours communications under their legal right, time systems need to distinguish exceptions—like emergencies or on-call compensation—from regular refusal. Simply assuming all off-hours activity is work can lead to misclassification. 

(b)Capturing Availability Allowances
Some roles, such as on-call staff, may receive an “availability allowance”. Time systems should support these allowances—whether in pay or compensatory time off—and accurately tie them to specific periods of permitted after-hours work.

(c) Flagging and Distinguishing Contacts & Responses
 Recording when employees log in or engage with work systems after hours is key. Transparent flags for voluntary after-hours work versus involuntary or emergency contact enable fair compliance and reporting in case of disputes Fair Work Ombudsman Sentrient . 

(d) Policy Enforcement and Audit Trails 
Attendance Systems should support audit trails showing whether after-hours work is part of agreed expectations, logs of employee refusal notifications, and any internal dispute resolutions. This emerges as important evidence if escalated to the Fair Work Commission 

e. Cultural Change and Communication 
Beyond technical capability, the introduction of disconnect rights calls for cultural alignment. Employers must set clear expectations, offer training to managers, and update communication protocols so use of time systems reinforces respect for employees’ non-working hours  

4. Recommendations for Employers & System Designers
Employers and HR teams should:

  • Define out‑of‑hours communication policy, including what counts as an emergency
  •  Clarify roles eligible for availability allowances and properly record them 
  • Train managers to respect disconnect boundaries and use time systems wisely 
  • Have mechanisms to report and resolve disputes using system logs.

Time & Attendance vendors/system designers should:
  •  Enable tagging of after-hours activity as voluntary, emergency, or refusal Include fields for availability allowance hours and associated pay 
  • Maintain audit logs for dispute support 
  • Support trend reporting on after-hours engagement and overtime patterns.

 Final Thoughts 
Australia’s Right to Disconnect law marks a significant shift in valuing personal time and mental health as witnessed in a swift reduction in unpaid overtime.  To respect these new boundaries, time-and-attendance systems must evolve — not just to track time, but to respect time. With thoughtful policy, adaptive tools, and a culture that values work-life balance, employers can remain compliant while building a more ethical, sustainable workplace.

If you would like to discuss the implications for your business and how advanced time and attendance systems can help your business navigate these changes you can contact me using any of the options below.


Regards

Jim Courtwood

Time & Attendance Consultant

jimc@timeandattendance.com.au

1300 553 254

0437 772 977