The right to disconnect: EU Publications

Digital technologies have made it possible for many workers to carry out their work at any time and anywhere, with consequent advantages and disadvantages. Eurofound data show that teleworkers are twice as likely to exceed the 48-hour working time limit, take insufficient rest and work in their free time, with knock-on effects on their physical and mental health. To address this issue, there have been calls for the ‘right to disconnect’.

Dans le cadre de la transformation numérique du monde du travail, la commission de l’emploi et des affaires sociales du Parlement européen a adopté un rapport d’initiative législative invitant la Commission à proposer une directive européenne fixant des exigences minimales pour le droit à la déconnexion. La pratique du travail à distance au moyen d’outils numériques, qui s’est intensifiée en raison des mesures de confinement liées au coronavirus, a attiré une attention croissante sur les problèmes que posent la connectivité permanente et l’effacement des limites entre le temps de travail et le temps libre. Le Parlement doit mettre aux voix cette initiative législative au cours de la période de session de janvier 2021.

This article sets out the main issues relating to the definition of telework, before looking at the main drivers of telework and examining its incidence around the EU. It then gives an overview of health and safety issues in the workplace, before examining those that are specifically related to teleworking.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a surge in telework, with dramatic increases in the number of employees working from home (teleworking) in many European countries. What for many employees started out as a mandatory move seems to have transformed into a preference among the majority for part-time or full-time telework. Considering the expansion of telework, policymakers need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of this arrangement so that they can put the right policies in place to ensure that working conditions continue to improve in the future world of work.

These proceedings summarise the presentations and discussions that took place during the EMPL workshop held on 2 December 2021 on Mental health and well-being in the digital world of work post COVID. The workshop had four presentations, each followed by a Q&A session. The presentations touched upon the cost of poor mental health and the cost of inaction, digitalisation in the world of work, innovative and practical ways to create a resilient workplace and the role of legislation at national and EU level.

Advances in ICT have opened the door to new ways of organising work. We are shifting from a regular, bureaucratic and ‘factory-based’ working time pattern towards a more flexible model of work. Telework and ICT-based mobile work (TICTM) has emerged in this transition, giving workers and employers the ability to adapt the time and location of work to their needs. Despite the flexibility and higher level of worker autonomy inherent in TICTM, there are risks that this work arrangement leads to the deterioration of work–life balance, higher stress levels and failing worker health

Building a fairer and more inclusive European Union.

One of the deliverables of the European Pillar of Social Rights is the Work-life Balance Initiative, which addresses the work-life balance challenges faced by working parents and carers.

Parliament wants to protect employees’ fundamental right to disconnect from work and not to be reachable outside working hours.

The digital transformation has been hugely impacting the world of work, including making it possible for work to be carried out anywhere and at any time and for workers to be reachable outside their working hours. As a result, many new challenges have evolved beyond the existing Union legal framework. In addition, as a consequence of the Covid 19 outbreak many companies and organisations switched to teleworking. Consequently strengthening the afore-mentioned tendencies.

Find out how the EU is improving workers’ rights and working conditions across Europe, from working hours and parental leave to health and safety at work.

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

Eurofound publications on the right to disconnect.

Au cours de la pandémie de COVID-19, le télétravail a contribué à sauver des emplois et a limité la perte d’activité économique. En Europe, ce sont des millions de travailleurs qui ont commencé à travailler à domicile: environ 40 % d’entre eux. La pandémie a accéléré le passage au télétravail, qui est devenu un facteur irremplaçable dans la lutte contre la maladie. Les entreprises, les travailleurs et la société dans son ensemble ont été confrontés à d’énormes défis. Bien entendu, il y aura de nombreux enseignements à tirer de cette pandémie, ce qui permettra d’accroître les possibilités et d’éliminer les risques liés au télétravail.