The minimum requirements of the right to disconnection proposed by the European Parliament (Norme & Tributi Plus Diritto – Il Sole 24 Ore, 9 February 2021 – Vittorio De Luca, Alessandra Zilla)

On 21 January, the European Parliament approved the resolution containing recommendations to the Commission on the right to disconnection (2019/2181(INL).

This term means – as specified by the Parliament – the “right of workers not to engage in work-related tasks or communications outside working hours by means of digital media, such as phone calls, emails or other messages.”  

The document was approved during the emergency. According to Eurofound data, during this period, more than a third of EU workers began to work from home, compared to the five per cent who already worked remotely before the crisis. The change in the way work is carried out and the increasing use of digital tools have led, as stated in the resolution, to the “rise of an “always connected” culture … that can be to the detriment of workers’ fundamental rights.”

The resolution takes as its starting point the absence of specific legislation at EU level on the right of workers to disconnect from digital tools and the consequent need to establish an EU regulatory framework identifying minimum requirements for the exercise of this right.

Continue reading the full version published in Norme & Tributi Plus Diritto of Il Sole 24 Ore