The Bill aims to establish an Employees’ Welfare Authority to confer the right on every employee to disconnect from work-related calls and e-mails beyond work hours and on holidays.
- A Private Members’ Bill is a Bill introduced by a Member of Parliament (MP) other than a Minister.
What is Right to Disconnect?
- Right to Disconnect is a legal protection allowing workers to disconnect from work and ignore work-related electronic communications during non-work hours.
- Based on Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): ‘Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.’
Need for Right to Disconnect
- Work-related stress: Constant availability in the digital age causes high stress, sleep deprivation, and mental exhaustion.
- Productivity Decline: E.g. Studies show productivity drops when working over 50 hours per week.
- Socio-psychological impact: Overwork harms work-life balance, social relationships (e.g. isolation),
- E.g. Ernst & Young employee’s death in Pune due to overwork in 2024.
- Constitutional Basis:
- Article 21: Right to Life and Liberty and dignity.
- Article 39(e): State to ensure that health and strength of workers are not abused.
- Article 42: State’s responsibility to ensure just and humane working conditions.
Global Case Studies
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