Four Workplace Law Changes Every Small Business Should Know About Right Now

Australian workplace law has changed more in the last two years than in the previous decade. If you run a small business and haven't reviewed your policies since 2024, there's a good chance you're missing at least one of these.

1. The right to disconnect

Since 26 August 2025, this applies to small business employers too. Employees now have the right to refuse to monitor, read, or respond to work contact outside their working hours, unless that refusal would be unreasonable.

Whether a refusal is "unreasonable" depends on factors like the reason for the contact, how it's made, how much it disrupts the employee's personal life, and whether they're compensated for availability outside hours.

What to do: have a conversation with your team about expectations around after-hours contact. You don't need a lengthy policy, but you do need clarity, and a manager who understands the rules.

2. The casual employee "choice pathway"

Since 26 August 2025, eligible casual employees at small businesses can notify you in writing that they want to move to permanent (full-time or part-time) employment, once they've been employed for at least 12 months and believe they no longer meet the definition of a casual employee.

You can only refuse on limited grounds: they still genuinely meet the casual definition, there are fair and reasonable operational grounds not to accept it, or accepting it would breach a legal recruitment requirement. There are also strict response timeframes.

What to do: know which of your casuals have been with you 12+ months, and don't let a written request sit unanswered. The timeframes are tighter than they look.

3. The contractor classification test

Since 26 August 2024, whether someone is an employee or a genuine independent contractor is assessed by looking at the real substance and practical reality of the relationship, not just the label in the contract. We've covered this in detail in a separate article, but if you engage any contractors, it's worth checking.

4. The positive duty to prevent sexual harassment

Employers are required to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment connected with work as far as possible (not just respond appropriately after a complaint is made). Sexual harassment is also treated as a psychosocial hazard under work health and safety law, which brings a separate set of risk-assessment obligations into play.

What "reasonable steps" looks like scales with the size and resources of the business. For example, a five-person team isn't expected to run the same program as a 500-person company. Still, "we have a policy nobody has read" won't meet the standard either.

What this looks like in practice for a small business:

• A workplace policy that's actually been communicated, not just filed away

• A clear, safe way for someone to raise a concern

• Basic awareness training, even briefly, for anyone managing staff

• A simple risk assessment considering things like power imbalances, remote or isolated work, and customer-facing roles

The pattern across all four

None of these changes require a large compliance program. They require: knowing they exist, updating a policy or two, having a conversation with your team, and responding properly if something comes up. The businesses that get into difficulty are usually the ones who didn't know it had moved.

Where Pradella Law fits in

A one-off compliance review is usually enough to identify what, if anything, needs updating for your specific business. Most small businesses need less than they fear, but more than they've done. If it's been a while since anyone looked at your workplace policies against current law, book a free discovery call and we'll give you a straight answer on where you stand.

This article is general information current as at the publication date and does not constitute legal advice. Contact Pradella Law for advice tailored to your specific circumstances.