A Queensland primary school teacher is suing her former employer claiming she has been unfairly dismissed after she refused to respond to communication during the school holidays. This is the first case that will be taken to Federal Court citing the newly introduced ‘right to disconnect’ laws as she claimed she was not required to work during the school holidays.

The laws were introduced by the Albanese government back in August of 2024 and gives employees the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to work-related emails, calls and texts outside of their working hours unless the refusal is considered unreasonable.

These laws apply to everyone, however, there are questions as to how and when these laws should be used for people who work in industries with non-standard work-patterns. This includes sectors such as education where teachers are often required to take work home to mark or be available to respond to parent or student enquiries at late hours.

Image: Image: Shutterstock – fadfebrian

Produced By: Maeve Groom

Featured In Story: Fiona McDonald – Acting Director for The Centre for Future Work

First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 4 June 2025