The right to disconnect comes as an emerging human right and a necessary tool to redefine boundaries between work and home.
The topic assumes significance in light of the recent death of an Ernst & Young affiliated company employee allegedly due to overwhelming work stress.
This right was materialised in several countries, with France introducing it for the first time in the 2017 in furtherance of the 2016 French Labour Reforms. In 2024, Australia is the latest entrant to this reform with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defending the law by saying,
“Someone who’s not paid 24 hours a day shouldn’t be penalized if they’re not online and available 24 hours a day.”
The right to disconnect, to put it simply, is a right that allows a person to exist beyond the work that he has chosen to do. He is allowed to not entertain work-related matters outside of working hours and working space. However, in today's workaholic generation with the value of humans being associated with the level of their productivity, an employee might be considered weak for wanting to separate work from home. Such employees might also be looked over for promotions and other work-related benefits.
Thus, the success of this right is closely connected to its implementation. For example, in the Australian Model as published by the Fair Work Ombudsman, 'reasonability of the contact' will be checked and other factors such as additional pay, inter alia, will be considered in judging the infringement of this right. The model also emphasises resorting to internal mechanisms first in case of disputes between the employee and employer.
Another aspect of this right can be reduced working hours to increase productivity and restore the mental health of the workers. In October 2015, Iceland is said to have led the world’s biggest experiment by introducing a shorter working week with no reduction in pay. The trials were conducted by Alda, Association for Democracy and Sustainability. Alda is an Icelandic organization focusing on democracy, sustainability, and other related areas, such as work.
In the interviews with workers, they mentioned that they could maintain the same level of service by staying more focused, cutting down meeting times, and eliminating extended coffee breaks. While some worried about having to work at a faster pace, others were excited about shorter Fridays, seeing it as a motivating reward.
In conclusion, the Icelandic trials defied myths like shorter working hours will mean a more stressful workplace (to compensate for the shorter working time), and less efficiency of the work inter alia. Workers came out happier from the shorter working week and productivity increased. Although studies still need to be conducted on how this shorter work week has led to less out-of-pocket expenditure on the health of the workers, it would not be illogical to assume that several stress-related instances would have significantly reduced.
It is interesting to note that the debate and discussion around such right can be assumed to be a need of only comparatively developed countries. Considering their economies being capitalistic, the company-dominated work culture can be a bit burdensome for some. However, around the same time that France introduced this right, India’s Member of Parliament Supriya Sule introduced a private member Bill for the entry of this right into the Indian workspace. The Bill seeks the setting up of an Employee Welfare Authority, tasked with the duty to ensure the welfare of employees in the country and formulate a charter that outlines the terms and conditions to be negotiated between employees and employers of a company or society, within one year from the date of its constitution.
The Statement of Object and Reasons of the Bill highlights two significant studies that are important for this post:
According to the report released by the World Economic Forum, the proportion of mobile workers who could work from any location is expected to rise above 70%.
A 2014 Stanford University study found that working more than 50 hours a week doesn't necessarily lead to more productivity. In fact, after 50 hours, productivity starts to level off, and by 60 hours, it even declines. Additionally, the study highlighted that employees who deal with work-related calls and emails after 9 PM tend to have poor sleep quality, which further harms their productivity.
The aforementioned studies reinforce the need for the right to disconnect. Unfortunately, the Bill was not even considered for discussion in Parliament.
As the world rapidly digitalises and AI increasingly takes over mechanical tasks, preserving core human values becomes essential. Allowing humans to be human and not machines requires respecting their need for rest and balance. The right to disconnect is crucial in ensuring that people can separate their self-worth from their work, fostering a healthier and more sustainable relationship with their professional lives.
Priyanshee Sharma is a student at Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur.