The right to disconnect: which countries have legislated?

As of April 1, 2023, Belgian employers in the private sector with 20 or more employees must include the right to disconnect in collective bargaining agreements or work rules. This legislation, updated in October 2022, requires employers to implement provisions ensuring employees are not contactable after working hours, including guidelines for digital tool use and training. While no specific sanctions exist for non-compliance, failing to uphold this right may breach broader workplace well-being obligations, potentially leading to legal repercussions. Experts from 15 other countries have also commented on whether a right to disconnect has been introduced in their own jurisdictions.

In Greece since 2010, when remote work was implemented in domestic legislation, there was no specific legal provision safeguarding the right to disconnect. The only relevant provision was the general requirement for employees to have a minimum of 11 hours of daily rest between shifts. On 3 December 2022 the right to disconnect was established in domestic law for the first time under the Presidential Decree (No. 88/2022). This requires teleworkers to completely abstain from providing work, especially from communicating by e-mail or telephone, during non-working hours and holidays. It also prohibits any form of discrimination against employees who exercise the right to disconnect. Finally, it establishes the existence of a mandatory clause in the contract of employment setting out the terms and conditions for ensuring the worker’s disconnection from digital communication and work tools. This clause shall be agreed between the employer and the employees’ representatives. In the absence of such a clause, the employer is required to define those terms and conditions and notify all employees.

For more detailed information, please refer to the original article on Ius Laboris HERE