Advances in technology have brought us wonderful things: the internet, videos of kittens doing funny things, and the possibility of working remotely in some jobs. However, this ability to work anywhere at any time has created unrealistic expectations for some bosses and employers. This has been the most viral case in recent days on the internet, but it has resonated with thousands of workers around the world.
It involves a young woman, only 22 years old, who, in an act of mental self-defense, refused to respond to work messages after 8:00 p.m. But don’t worry, she doesn’t work in the healthcare industry, nor was she on call. Her boss simply thought it would be a good idea to send her a message at 11:40 p.m. to give her a task and ask her to have it ready first thing the next morning. I wouldn’t even give Cinderella herself time to accomplish such a feat… Unless she didn’t feel like sleeping.
False productivity
The boss’s reprimand came the very next morning: “You should be aware of communication if you want to grow.” That was that, but he couldn’t help noticing a rather tense atmosphere in the workplace. 24/7 connectivity has erased all boundaries between professional and private life. So much so that many countries have adopted the “right to disconnect” (R2D in Internet slang).
The fact is that there is a toxicity in the world of work that equates constant availability with productivity. Presence is often confused with performance (something that is very common in Asian societies such as Japan and South Korea).
Modern employees, armed with smartphones, constant notifications, and laptops, carry their offices in their pockets.
Their homes and free time are nothing more than unpaid overtime. If these salaried employees are exempt from overtime pay, this culture directly translates into an increase in unpaid working hours—a necessary “toll” to grow in the working world. The social pressure to respond after hours is a subtle way of demanding unpaid work, a practice that may be illegal depending on the jurisdiction.
This ultimately has a negative impact on the company: constant connection leads to chronic stress, anxiety, and burnout. This directly translates into a loss of productivity, causing efficiency within your department to plummet. An employee who is unable to disconnect in order to recover will, in the long run, be less productive and more prone to errors, which harms the entire business as a whole.
Right to disconnect in other countries
The legislative movement that gave rise to R2 originated in France. This country was a pioneer in formalizing this labor right. The law was enacted there in 2017. This law included the provision on disconnection in a much broader labor bill. The mechanism of this French law is interesting; instead of imposing a direct fine for each late email, it requires companies with more than 50 employees to negotiate with the unions representing the workers. The aim is to create agreements or “letters of good conduct” that define the regulatory systems for digital tools. They must set out in writing what is expected of both employees and managers.
This French law acted as a domino. In a short time, the right to disconnect became a firm trend and a change in the labor landscape in multiple jurisdictions. Its neighbor Spain followed suit in 2018, when it included the right to digital disconnection in its organic law on personal data protection and the guarantee of civil rights. Portugal did the same in 2021, imposing fines on companies with more than 10 employees who responded to them outside of working hours. In Ireland, a code of practice was introduced in 2021. Belgium did the same in 2022, implementing the right for its civil servants and later requiring the same of private companies with more than 20 employees.