While it might be appealing, choosing to ignore your boss isn’t always an option you can exercise.
For certain employees, acting as though you aren’t aware of a message from your manager sent after hours can result in serious consequences.
Most of us have faced the anxiety of receiving a late-night work email notification just as we’re about to unwind with a show, prepare dinner, or finally relax. You assure yourself that you’ll “respond quickly,” and before you know it, you’re back in work mode.
However, taking a break is crucial. Detaching from your boss, your inbox, and the constant flow of notifications isn’t just a comfort; it’s a necessity.
Properly unplugging enhances job performance, safeguards mental health, improves sleep quality, and provides the opportunity to truly enjoy life outside of work. It’s unrealistic to be available 24/7.
The era of constant connectivity, which has developed alongside social media, has blurred the distinction between professional and personal life in ways never experienced by previous generations. While this connectivity has made team collaboration quicker and more adaptable, it has also fostered an unspoken expectation in some workplaces that employees should remain accessible through digital platforms and work chats, even when they should be relaxing.
Surprisingly, only a few countries provide employees with a ‘right to disconnect’ from work, ensuring that employers cannot penalize them for not responding to calls or emails after hours.
You’re likely curious: which countries offer this, and how soon can you relocate?!
In 2024, Australia enacted legislation granting employees the ‘right to disconnect’ from work, a practice that some European nations had already embraced.
According to this law, organizations are prohibited from penalizing employees for not answering calls or emails outside of working hours.
How does this work? Employers and clients can still attempt to contact employees outside of work hours (unfortunately), but employees have the legal right to ignore these communications unless their refusal is deemed ‘unreasonable.’ The Fair Work Commission in Australia assesses what constitutes ‘unreasonable,’ taking into account factors such as the employee’s role, the nature of the contact, the level of disruption, and other relevant conditions.
Other countries with similar rights include:
In 2017, France established a “right to disconnect” from work emails outside business hours. Companies with 50 or more employees must negotiate acceptable contact times with staff, and non-compliance can result in fines up to 1% of an employee’s total salary.
Since 2022, Belgian employees have had the right to ignore work messages after hours. Initially for civil servants, the law now extends to private-sector employees in firms with 20 or more staff.
Portugal’s “right to rest” law prevents employers from contacting staff outside work hours. Employees are also entitled to at least 11 hours of uninterrupted night rest, during which they can only be contacted in emergencies.
In Spain, employees have the right to disconnect from work-related digital communications outside designated working hours, supporting a healthy work-life balance.
Ireland has introduced a Code of Practice on the right to disconnect, allowing employees to disregard work matters after normal working hours. Employers must respect this right and refrain from contacting employees when they’re off duty.
Italy’s right to disconnect is specifically focused on remote work, requiring telework agreements to define rest periods and outline measures that allow employees to fully disconnect from work technology.