Let me begin with a disclaimer: I am not the original thinker behind this most innovative and most laudable idea of introducing the dire need for legal right to disconnect in India. I have gained traction for this most laudable idea and so also beyond a straw of doubt most innovative idea after reading the most commendable and most enlightening article titled “Yes Madam controversy; the need for legal right to disconnect in India” authored by Mr Debargha Roy who is a Research Fellow in Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, New Delhi that I got to read from “The Economic Times” e-paper that was published on December 20, 2024. There can be certainly no getting away from the irrefutable fact that the workforce in India has to work a lot and come under severe mental strain due to the unrelenting work pressure in both public and the private sector and it takes physical toll also on health of employees.
It is definitely the moral and legal responsibility of India as well as Constitutional obligation to ensure that India steps forward to most promptly recognize the right to disconnect by making suitable changes in our laws in this regard and so also now start implementing them at the earliest as it brooks no more dilly-dallying on it any longer! The earlier this is done, the better it shall be for the health and mental well being of the workforce. No denying or disputing it!
It is well enshrined even in the Constitution that Article 38 mandates the State to promote the welfare of its citizens and so also we definitely need to pay our unremitting attention here to the irrefutable fact that Article 39(e) clearly directs policies to secure the health and strength of workers. It may be recalled that in 2018 we saw that a Private Members Bill introduced by NCP MP Ms Supriya Sule had proposed penalties for non-compliance with a right to disconnect provision but it failed to muster enough strength to get it passed in Parliament. It must be noted that this Private Members Bill provided that employees would not be obliged to pick up calls of employers after work hours and employers who still ventured or dared to violate these mandatory provisions would be liable to face penalties amounting to 1% of their total employee compensation. It is high time and now Centre must step forward and go whole hog to ensure that the “right to disconnect” is made legally mandatory in all public and private sector jobs!
One certainly has to be magnanimous to acknowledge with grace that so many untoward incidents that we have been witnessing in last couple of years among the working class with many even committing suicide or attempting to commit suicide out of work pressure has only served to reinforce the dire need for Centre enacting a well drafted legislation and so also all the States that is designed to meet the current scenario and challenges by which employees would be protected from excessive work hours and so also ensuring their mental well-being by deploying mandatory necessary safeguards like rest after few hours of work. It should also be stipulated that there will be no work at odd hours which goes a long way in taking a heavy toll of one’s health thus jeopardizing the very life of the employee! Of course, there can be just no gainsaying that this will definitely go a long way in ensuring the mental well-being of the employees and so also will ensure of it being in tune with the current global trends and global standards.
It definitely cannot be ever taken lightly that according to a study that was carried out by ADP Research Institute, it was found that 49 percent of the Indian workers said that workplace stress negatively impacts their mental health that has a cascading effect on their lives! More to the point, we see that an eminent French politician Mr Benoit Hamon summed up the pathetic condition of employees by mincing absolutely just no words to state most upfront that, “Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash like a dog. The text, the message, the emails colonise the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down.” Absolutely right!
It is also an undeniable fact that Indian women who are working in professional jobs like auditing, Information Technology and media have to work more than 55 hours a week and this undoubtedly has a telling adverse impact on their health! Those in the defence services have to also work under very trying conditions just like those who are in police among other services and we see that sometimes many even commit suicide under huge unrelenting pressure of work or even kill their senior or fellow employees after finding themselves mentally unable to cope with it. It is also an unpalatable truth that employees who can’t switch off from work often suffer from burnout, anxiety and even suffer from a range of complex physical health issues such as high blood pressure and so also insomnia among others!
It thus merits no reiteration that the time is definitely ripe now to usher in the much requisite changes that are sorely needed on this front. It is also beyond a straw of doubt unquestionable that a law pertaining to the “right to disconnect” in India has become indispensable in the present day highly challenging work environment that is often not very favourable for workers and is very much demanding also. It also is an indubitable fact that a most commendable law like this that entails for “legal right to disconnect” is the crying and compelling need of the hour in India where mental health is becoming a very critical issue that would undoubtedly go a long way in ensuring the amelioration of the physical and mental well-being of the employees and so also giving them an opportunity to recharge themselves and work with renewed vigour and enthusiasm which will definitely go a long way in boosting our economy further!
While dwelling on the global laws, it must be pointed out that the recognition of the “right to disconnect” which advocates for recognition of reasonable working hours and the right of employees to disconnect from work beyond a certain point of time can be traced to Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which states most unequivocally underscoring that, “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.” To put it simply, the right to disconnect allows employee to disengage from work communication outside working hours, promoting work-life balance. We also need to acknowledge that several countries like France, Belgium and Ireland have already gone ahead from others in implementing the “right to disconnect” legislation!
It must be certainly laid bare that in France, courts have ruled that employees are not obligated to respond to work communications after hours, ensuring personal time is respected. It is worth noting that in Portugal we see that it has laws making it illegal for employers to contact employees outside working hours except in emergencies. It also must be definitely borne in mind that Spain and Australia have similar protections, ensuring employees’ personal and family privacy and work-life balance are safeguarded. It merits mentioning that Australia had passed the “Fair Work Legislation Amendment” which empowered the employees to exercise the “right to disconnect” from work outside of working hours as stipulated for them! What also must be taken into account is that Ireland also recognizes the most sacrosanct “right to disconnect” to promote employee well-being. Very rightly so!
It must be said at the risk of repetition that the “right to disconnect” has now become inevitable and it certainly cannot be postponed any longer now on one pretext or the other. We are witnessing how more and more countries are most laudably according it the much needed legal protection and this definitely cannot be now put in the cold storage any longer! Very rightly so!
By all accounts, it is most pivotal for effectively addressing workplace stress and strain not only in just India but in all the countries around the world and must be definitely implemented now at the earliest at least in India by Centre by taking adequate steps in this direction to promote, preserve and protect the delicate work-life balance of the employees! It must be also stipulated that employers who fail to abide by the mandatory provisions on the “right to disconnect” would be penalized and punished so that it acts as a strong deterrent for employers to not take the legal right of the employees for granted! No doubt, it will also certainly go a long way in containing to a large extent the workplace conflicts that occur over mostly after-hours work. It thus, therefore, merits just no reiteration whatsoever that Centre must now definitely be most willing to take a holistic approach of this most sensitive issue that is in recent times garnering a lot of limelight not only nationally but also in the global media and act at the earliest to enact the necessary legislation in this regard so that it is the employees who have the last laugh who work so hard and who so very richly deserve it also!
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