Combatting Always-On Work Culture: Right to Disconnect Laws Expand

Published 23 September 2024

Author
Nienke Creemers
2 min read

Long working hours are linked to higher levels of heart disease, stroke and poor mental health. Concurrently, many employees are rethinking hustle culture and personal achievement (see Redefining Success). As a result, some governments are instating right to disconnect laws, nudging employers to abstain from contacting their staff after hours.

  • Right to Disconnect Laws Proliferate: Prior to 2024, several countries had implemented right to disconnect legislation, including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Ireland and Luxembourg. In August 2024, Australia’s right to disconnect laws were put in effect, while the UK government is considering similar legislation. These laws aim to ban employers from contacting workers outside of their contracted hours.

    Belgium and Ireland take a voluntary approach, where employers are encouraged to forego after-hours emails and calls. Companies won’t be fined for contacting employees after hours, but employees can’t be penalised for ignoring messages and calls outside of their scheduled working hours.

    In other countries, like Portugal, companies could be fined if employers seek contact outside of contracted hours (except for emergencies, like in case of a cyberattack).

  • Confronting Always-On Culture: Several new books focus on confronting hustle culture. September 2024’s Over Work by American journalist Brigid Schulte argues that the always-on culture is a systemic issue, offering potential solutions, like the four-day working week and protections for family time. And Never Not Working (February 2024) by American psychology professor Malissa Clark prompts individuals to reassess their relationship to (over)work.

  • Healthy Productivity: While 58% of British business leaders object to the right to disconnect (IoD, 2024), researchers draw attention to the health and social problems caused by always-on work culture. Companies can get ahead of right to disconnect laws by implementing policies that instruct leadership to limit out-of-hours communication.

    Additional simple solutions can be adopted, such as avoiding meetings outside of core hours or providing greater flexibility for parents and caregivers.

 

See 10 Work & Productivity Trends, 24/25 for more.