Means of Enabling the Right to Disconnect in the Workplace

The aim is to provide mechanisms that facilitate workers’ privacy during their free time by preventing possible intrusions by the company outside the workplace. To this end, a balance is proposed between current legislation, including its advantages and disadvantages, with the aim of improving the regulations and their application, understood as specific rights of workers in relation to the company for which they work.

This right is considered essential in certain activities involving the use of digital devices (practically all production sectors), and not only in those where workers are required to adhere to specific working hours, but also in hazardous activities where working time should be reduced because of the risk involved.

Ultimately, the objective is to ensure that rest periods, holidays, leave, etc. are respected, during which the company should not interfere with the personal lives of its workers. Therefore, the proposal is not only to recognise this as a worker’s right, but, above all, as an obligation on the part of the employer to respect the non-working time of its workers.

These measures will apply to any sector of employment, as well as to public administrations. However, the way in which they are implemented must be adapted according to the characteristics and specific circumstances of each activity.

Currently, the regulation of the right to disconnect in the workplace is still in its early stages and requires further development. Above all, collective agreements can establish specific measures for implementation adapted to the particular characteristics of each activity.

At present, the right to disconnect in the workplace is regulated by Article 88 of Organic Law 3/2018 of 5 December on the Protection of Personal Data and Guarantee of Digital Rights, as well as Article 18 of Law 10/2021 of 9 July on remote working. It is a novel right that has been implemented in some of the countries in our immediate European surroundings, such as France, Italy and Germany, where it is more developed because it has been recognised as a workers’ right for a longer period. Hence the importance of ensuring that the development of this right safeguards workers’ privacy.

This issue has been addressed by the Department’s Labour and Social Security Law Area through the organisation of a webinar, as well as a collective book that is about to be published by Aranzadi.

The team has a solid theoretical and practical knowledge base, supported by webinars and specialised publications, and is available to carry out audits, draft protocols and provide advice on collective bargaining.

• Technology and Digital Services (Companies with a high level of remote working).
• Industrial Sector and Hazardous Activities (Where rest affects physical safety).
• Public Administrations.
• Consultancy, Auditing and Professional Services Firms.

Francisco Javier Fernández Orrico – Department of Legal Studies