How being ‘on-call’ for work can disrupt your sleep – even if the call never comes

Tourialay Akbari/Getty It’s 4am, you’ve finally drifted off, and then the phone rings. It’s work calling. You have to go in. The right to disconnect from work has been protected by law in Australia since 2024. This means most employees can refuse to answer calls from work outside their regular work hours. But for many of us, regular work involves being “on-call”. While you’re not officially working, this “standby” mode means you need to be available to spring into action if required: to answer…