DISCONNECT TO RECONNECT: EMERGING LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING IN THE DIGITAL AGE

By- Noya Maria Babu & Anwesha Nayak

Abstract

The evolution of hybrid and work from home models has made the boundary between professional obligation and personal life merely illusory. This has made the right to disconnect a necessity for employees working in hybrid and remote working models. This blog analyses the emerging jurisprudence of the Right to Disconnect, drawing on the international discussions on the human right of work life balance under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the provision of maximum hours of work under the various labour laws, and discrepancy in opinions of the world leaders in relation to the working hours and work-life balance. The article further discusses the need for right to disconnect and recommends it to be included under the ambit of Article 21, making it uniform for all sectors, and giving guidance for sectors where it is not possible to be applied uniformly. The authors conclude that Right to Disconnect is the way forward and should be included in the legislative discussions.

Introduction

“It is alandmark step towards safeguarding the mental health, dignity and personal freedom of private sector employees in Kerala”.

The following is a line from Prathidwani, a welfare organisation of IT employees in Kerala, after Chief Whip and Kanjirappally MLA Dr. N Jayaraj proposedthe ‘Right to Disconnect Bill’ for private sector employees in the Kerala State Assembly.

The Right to Disconnect is the concept wherein employees are protected against attending or performing work related calls, messages after their designated work hours. First made into a legislation by France in 2017, countries around the world and now the Indian State of Kerala is set to pass the bill which is primarily made with the intention of relieving employees, especially in the private sector, from burnouts, mental health problems and other health related problems associated with working ‘overtime’. The recent death of 26 year old Malayali Chartered Accountant in 2024,  employed in Ernst & Young, Pune, due to heart attack caused by stress and excessive work fuelled the proposal of the bill in the Assembly.

The concept of disconnecting from work can be found to have its roots in the Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) with states that “everyone has a right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay”. The policy can be said to be a protective framework against the consequences of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. The fourth Industrial revolution is “characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres”. It emerged as a concept first in the 1990s with the rapid growth of internet, with proponents advocating for “work-life balance” and “disengaging themselves from work” for teleworkers.

Legal Framework outside India

France became the first country to introduce the Right to Disconnect in 2017. It was part of ‘El Khomri’ or the legislation dealing with regulating employment. Introduced as part of combating the “always-on” culture, it aims to improve the quality of life of an employee and incentivise working, especially in the private sector. It mandated companies having more than 50 employees to negotiate with the employers and ensure that the employees are disconnected from work related messages or calls outside their designated work hours. This right comes with the Assurance that no action can be taken against the employee who does not engage in after work communication. 

Belgium follows the French model and it is applicable to any company with more than 20 employees and such work-related communications outside work time is only allowedsubjected to emergency situations.

Ireland also follows the same - the right to not work outside normal hours, to not face penalties for refusing to engage in work, and mutual respect between the employers and employees. Ireland does not have a binding law however it has a code which provides framework for companies.

 Australia became the latest country to adopt the concept in 2024 and its applicability is extended to companies with more than 15 employees. It is also applicable to smaller businesses having less than 15 employees wear in the law shall take effect on 26th August 2025.

Although countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, and Canada do not have binding legislations regarding the right to disconnect its labour codes contain the principle and some are aiming to enact the formal legislation of the right to disconnect.

Legal Framework in India

In India, the right to disconnect was first introduced in 2019 by Member of Parliament Supriya Sule who introduced it as a private members bill in the Lok Sabha. It was criticized and not brought forward due to vague definitions and the social ignorance with regards to the work-life balance issues. It aimed to constitute a ‘Employees’ Welfare Authority’, which will ensure that the grievance of employees related to that subject will be resolved.

Althoughin India the Factories Act 1948 and the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code 2020 provide for maximum working hours and intervals for rest, it does not extend to online working hours or working after the physical working hours.

The Directive Principles of State Policy in Articles 38, 39, and43 mandates for the state to ensure social order, adequate livelihood, and humane working conditions. Such is intended to prevent overwork and exploitation.

The Constitution of India under Article 21 includes the right to live with human dignity and under the same but the right to rest is also included.

Challenges and Issues

One of the major challenges that may arise will be due to the lack of clear definition of acceptable working hours due to different occupations have different timings and hence would become a major obstacle to the right to disconnect implementation.The recent example of Infosys founder Narayana Murthy advocating for longer work weeks and new IT workers to work for 70 hours raises pertinent questions regarding the employers’ concerns to the employees’ welfare, mental health and physical wellbeing.

Since the right to disconnect is a right which is related to the social welfare and mental health of an employee, it can always clash with the business/capitalistic attitude of companies.It would also result, if implemented in Kerala,in companies shifting out of Kerala to other states where in the right is not yet implementedwhich will in turn adversely affect the growth of the state.

Since India is still a developing nation, most of its businesses compete on a global stage due to the working outside of designated working hours because the workload can be effectively completed if worked beyond the legislated amount of time.

Need for ‘Right to Disconnect’

The pressure of being on at all times for the employees is increasingly evident in the current mode of remote and hybrid models of work followed by major business corporations in India. Since the working mode has become flexible by these models and employees are entitled to work from work or nearby co-working spaces and do not need to report to their workplace for work, another problem has also arisen, that is, the expectation of employers that the employees work for larger hours, and attend meetings beyond working hours, since they are working from home. This pressure of being available at all times has led to psycho-social stress, which has largely increased the chances of diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, and depression. There is a visible difference between those with the job strain of being available at all times and those employees who work in a physical office for a fixed working hours.

Contrary to the increased working hours, the marginal productivity of the employees does not always increase with the increase in working hours beyond the maximum working hours of an employee in an establishment in physical mode of work, which is nine hours per day or 48 hours per week, with a guaranteed weekly holiday. On the other hand, it leads to burnout of the employees and therefore, diminished motivation to work and productivity on their part since they are expected to be logged in even beyond working hours. Further, this has led to prolonged screen time, which has adverse effects on the physical well-being of the employees and has led to insomnia, disrupted sleep cycles, back pain, headaches, hormonal imbalances, and such other health issues.

Thus, the right to disconnect would ensure and enhance work-life balance, as it would ensure that they can manage both their personal life by taking care of themselves and their families and at the same time, maintain their professional lives by handling themselves in a professional way and have proper etiquette. It would also ensure that their productivity is enhanced since they will be in proper health, motivated, with the assurance that they will not have to work after working hours.

Recommendation and way forward

Right to disconnect is an important right to be given in the current landscape of remote and hybrid models of work. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that it is included in the legislative reforms and in the labour codes being discussed. This right deserves to be a fundamental right or to be included within the ambit of Article 21 as in the current labour landscape, it has become an inevitable part of the right to life with dignity, as was also held in several landmark judgments of the Supreme Court.

However, considering the shortcomings of applicability of this right in some sectors, especially sectors like the medical field, hospitality field, and so on, it has to be made flexible in its approach, with sector-specific guidelines and approach.

In some sectors like the IT Sector, technology can be used to facilitate the right as well as the smooth conduct of work by implementing tools like auto-reply emails, do-not-disturb or sleep mode features in the devices of the employees.

Conclusion

In the world of hyper-connectivity, Right to Disconnect is the way forward, and there is an urgent need for it to be implemented. It is not a luxury which allows leisure to the employees, but rather a necessity which ensures their physical and mental well-being. However, for its effective implementation, a sector-specific approach needs to be taken and some flexibility is needed to be allowed in its applicability. A holistic right call for collective action from the policymakers along with an active involvement of the HR professionals for this just cause.

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