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Closing Loopholes changes start today: casuals, contractors and the right to disconnect

One of the most controversial elements of the Closing Loopholes legislation starts today, allowing employees to ignore out-of-hours contact from their employer. Meanwhile major reforms to contracting arrangements and casual employment also take effect.

The right to disconnect protects employees who refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact or attempted contact outside their working hours, unless their refusal is "unreasonable".

This includes contact, or attempted contact, from their employer, or another person (such as a client or customer) if the contact or attempted contact is work-related...