Earlier this week the second phase of the Right to Disconnect law was rolled out, impacting small business’ that employ fewer than 15 people.
Under the existing laws that have been in effect for businesses with 15 or more employees for the past 12 months, employees have the right to refuse, monitor, read or respond to contact made or attempted from employers or third parties outside of working hours. Unless of course doing so is deemed unreasonable.
However, the rules don’t make it unlawful for an employer to contact an employee outside of working hours, rather employees have the right to flat out ignore contact.
As of August 26, 2025, the second phase of this law was enacted giving employees of small business’ the same right.
Given the litany of small agencies dotted around the country, B&T tapped the minds of indie leaders to get their take on change:
Sam Buchanan, CEO, Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA)
“We recognise that the future of our industry relies on achieving balance, balance between driving strong business outcomes and supporting the wellbeing of the people who power our agencies.
“Independent agencies are built on entrepreneurial spirit, agility and a commitment to client success. But equally, we know that a sustainable industry must also champion healthy, engaged and supported people. The two are not in conflict; they are, in fact, interdependent.
“The bottom line is, success in media should not come at the expense of wellbeing, nor should wellbeing undermine commercial imperatives. The IMAA will continue to advocate for solutions that deliver both sustainable business growth and a thriving, people-first culture. This is the path forward for an industry that is future-ready, resilient, and inclusive.”
Sam Boardman, Director at Vonnimedia
“Agencies have not done themselves any favours over the years, being known for long hours and unrealistic demands. As an outsider to the traditional agency industry, I can count on one hand the number of times at Vonnimedia we’ve needed ‘outside of hours’ emergency communication with our team—so I don’t expect this to be a big challenge for our business.
“However, when it comes to client expectations, I’d expect smaller, high-performing agencies will feel this legislation less than the larger, more established players, where complexity and communication challenges are rife. Let’s be honest. The law exists because of poor planning and management. Smaller agencies know their clients deeply and manage leaner portfolios, which means they can spot risks earlier and react faster.
“Am I thrilled about the constant stream of new laws piling onto small businesses in Australia? Not really, but that’s another debate.”
Alfie Lagos, Director and Founder, Lexlab
“Having spent years in agencies where burning the midnight oil was standard practice, I think the right to disconnect is not only feasible but essential. At Lexlab, we’ve always built our culture around the idea that people should have a life outside of work. From day one, we used smart automation to monitor campaigns and set clear expectations with clients.
“The reality is that in our industry, rushing leads to mistakes, and clients value accuracy over speed. Protecting staff wellbeing ultimately protects the quality of the work and the broader business. At the end of the day, we’re not saving lives!”
Jamie Searle, CEO and Founder, Snack Drawer
“We’ve had the right to disconnect in place as a policy at Snack Drawer for the last year or so, and it has been working well for us.
“If anything it reinforces our culture at Snack Drawer, where we prioritise work/life balance and mental wellbeing. It’s typical for our employees to switch off Slack and email notifications after work hours. We focus more on employees taking accountability for their work, which means that people are able to feel like they can switch off.
“Personally, I have young kids. That means evenings are out for me in any case, so it works both ways in our agency. Our clients are also increasingly setting expectations that work should be done in work hours and this new legislation helps with a clear alignment there.
“At Snack Drawer, our team does work on things like Creator events and launches which happen, from time to time, in the evening. So when we hire, we ensure there is mutual agreement with our employees that they may have to work on these types of events from time to time. We find this discussion useful as it means we can align with our employees on their career goals and passions.”
Meredith Cranmer, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Curious Nation
“From my perspective, while the right to disconnect is certainly desirable, it’s not always feasible in the brand activations industry where much of our work takes place out of traditional hours. Client events, live activations, and retail programs don’t always fit neatly into a 9 to 5 framework.
“That said, we recognise the importance of balance and put measures in place to protect our team’s wellbeing. For example, we provide separate company mobile numbers to create clearer boundaries, and we build in quarterly wellbeing days to ensure our people have time to properly rest and reset.
“It’s less about rigidly switching off at 5pm and more about designing thoughtful systems that allow our people to disconnect meaningfully, even when the nature of the work itself is variable.”
Laura Tesluk, Chief Operating Officer, I.M.A. B2B
“We recognised a long time ago that everyone had the right to disconnect, that there was life outside of work that we had to respect, just like we want our staff to respect when they are at work. Sometimes those worlds collide but it’s the exception not the norm.
“For us we’re wanting to keep building on our values and keeping lines of communication open around the team and business needs and doing that in business hours.”
