The Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025 was introduced by Supriya Sule from the Nationalist Congress Party in the first chamber of India’s legislature. The Bill’s objective is to assure that every worker can legally refuse to take work related calls, email replies, text messages, or any other temporary communication during their off duty hours and on holidays. It also suggests setting up an Employees’ Welfare Authority that will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Bill, thus guaranteeing that workers will not suffer any penalties such as demotion, dismissal, loss of benefits if they choose not to respond after hours.
What Is The Right To Disconnect Bill And Why Is It Being Introduced?
The Bill requires that companies with ten or more workers obtain prior agreement from the employees or their representatives in order to delineate and accept the terms of communication after regular hours. Employees working overtime during the time agreed upon would have to be compensated at the regular hourly rate. Thus, the Bill intends to establish a distinct line between ‘working hours’ and ‘free hours.’
The initiative behind this Bill is very much influenced by the increasing concern over what is commonly labeled as ‘tele pressure’. The employees’ Inability to disconnect or remain offline after work is the most significant contributor to this issue. The advocates for this ongoing connectivity point to the fact that the boundary between personal and professional lives is becoming so murky that it leads to a whole range of negative consequences like stress, burnout, sleep deprivation, and mental health issues. The Bill, through the legal right to disconnect, intends to bring back the balance between work and personal life, to operate on lower stress levels and to eliminate the negative impact of the ‘always on’ work culture.
Is The Right To Disconnect Bill Becoming Law Soon?
Nevertheless, the Bill is still a long way from turning into a law. As a ‘private member’s bill’, it lacks government support; private member bills in India have not been able to achieve passage as a rule. The political will, consensus, possible amendments are some of the factors that will mainly determine its fate. Moreover, the proper execution of the Bill will rely heavily on definitions, for example what constitutes ‘work communication,’ what constitutes ‘outside working hours’, secondly grievance redressal systems, and third the level of readiness and awareness of both employers and employees. Certain sectors, such as emergency services, healthcare and 24/7 operations, may also have a case for exceptions or special treatment.
What Are The Countries Globally That Already Recognized The Right To Disconnect Bill?
On a global scale, the right to disconnect is already recognized by several legal frameworks or codes in different countries. The main ones are:
France: It is the first country that legalized the right to disconnect with its labour coding reforms in 2016-2017. Employers of the companies with more than 50 staff members must engage in discussions with the workers or union concerning the policies that will limit the digital contact after hours.
Belgium: The right to disconnect was expanded to private sector workers in companies with 20 or more employees in 2022 (2023).
Spain: Spanish law has required from about 2018 that the employers must ensure the workers’ right to be disconnected from all work related digital communication during their non working hours.
Italy: Italy, as part of its reform of 2017 recognized the right to disconnect, particularly for teleworkers, defining agreements for rest and unplugging from work tools.
Portugal: The country introduced measures around 2021 under its ‘right to rest’ wherein the employers are generally forbidden to contact the employees outside the agreed working hours except in case of emergencies.
Greece and Slovakia: The two nations have both recently Greece in 2022 and Slovakia in 2021 established the right to disconnect legislation which mainly governs the work from home/telework issues and also guarantees that the employees do not have to be accessible digitally during their breaks.
Ireland: Ireland, while not having a rigid statutory law, put into practice a non binding Code of Practice in 2021 that underpins the mutual consideration between the employer and the employee about after hours communication.
Australia: A recent (2024) review of its labour laws has seen Australia granting the workers the right to not take unreasonable calls after hours, with the unreasonableness being evaluated based on such factors as job role, urgency, frequency, and personal circumstances.
The legal systems in these countries differ considerably; some endow the right via labour legislation, others through workplace agreements, while some rely on non binding statutes or their codes of practice.
The Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025, if passed, would place India in the company of a shrinking global minority that legally recognizes the separation of work and private time. The Bill proposed the protection of mental health, maintenance of a work life balance, and lowering of stress through its attempts of eliminating the negative consequences of remote/hybrid work, digital communication overload, and rising burnout. However, its true effects will be face to face with acceptance from the political sphere, sound enforcing methods, and a shift of the work-related culture among the people.
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