Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Calling Time on 24/7 Work Connectivity

Claes-Mikael Ståhl 28th February 2025

The rapid development of new technologies is increasing pressure and forcing unlimited working time and growing stress among many workers across Europe. 

u4219834676fed 7869 4cde b29e 24c5866fe601 3

What do working people do when they get home, or turn away from the computer after a full day’s work? Do they tend to their families or take time for leisure activities? Or are they back online to put in extra hours or anxiously scanning their smartphones for an urgent message and a new task from their employer? Unfortunately, we know the answer to these question, most of us reconnect.

The rapid development of new technologies that permit 24-hour connectivity is increasing pressure and forcing unlimited working time and growing stress among many workers across Europe. That is why the implementation of an EU-wide legislation to guarantee the ‘right to disconnect’ is so urgent.

In June 2022, the European Trade Union Confederation and employers signed a joint Work Programme that included a commitment to reach a legally binding agreement to regulate telework and establish the right to disconnect, to be implemented in the form of a directive.  Negotiations continued for 15 months, and the social partners were close to  agreement, but in the end the employers’ side blocked the deal in the absence of unanimity on their part.  

Now the onus is on the European Commission to put forward a directive. Before last year’s European elections, the old Commission launched the first phase of a social partner consultation and presented its proposals in April 2024. The ETUC welcomed this initiative and responded promptly to the questions it posed. After taking office, the new Commission was due to report on the second phase, and the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Social Rights, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Minzatu, pledged to make this a priority. Trade unions expected to see a new proposal after Christmas – but nothing has appeared, and we are still waiting.



Don't miss out on cutting-edge thinking.


Join tens of thousands of informed readers and stay ahead with our insightful content. It's free.



An ambitious directive on telework and the right to disconnect would be a promised legislative initiative that can make a difference in an increasingly digitalised working environment. It is therefore difficult to understand why the Commission appears to be playing for time. This is unacceptable. Over-connectivity is a real problem, affecting our lives here and now. Legislative action that delivers real solution is urgently needed. Urgency is vital.

Like the struggle over a century ago for an eight-hour working day, the right to disconnect is a question of workers’ mental and physical health and safety. Even before COVID-19, stress at work started to reach epidemic proportions. Workers in Europe reported stress, anxiety, and depression as the second most common work-related health problem. In a 2022 post-covid Flash Eurobarometer survey by the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work (EU-OSHA), 46 per cent of respondents complained of severe time pressure or overload of work. Stress and burn-out can lead to depression, family break-ups and even suicide.  

Stress at work is a lake fed by many streams, and it is expanding. The COVID-19 pandemic generated an explosion in teleworking. Trade unions recognise that working from home may bring benefits for some people. But it needs rules and regulation. The exponential growth of the digital economy, bringing new work patterns, insecure or zero-hours contracts, platform work, AI digitalisation and meeting platforms like Zoom has been a major factor in promoting 24-hour availability and the resulting pressure on workers. In 2023, EU-OSHA highlighted “permanent availability” as a particular danger to workers’ safety and health. An enforceable right to disconnect is a key instrument in stemming this tide and allowing for a healthy work-life balance.

Eurofound research in November 2023 found that health problems were more common among employees who worked unsocial hours. They had higher levels of anxiety and exhaustion and indicated more often that their health was at risk because of their work. They also reported higher levels of ‘presenteeism’ (putting in long hours of work while physically unfit, and therefore less able to carry out tasks).

In 2024, the European Trade Union Institute identified five risk factors that contribute to depression and mental and physical ill-health, including  job strain, job insecurity and long working hours. Digital connectivity means that workers feel under constant pressure to be available and to accept work. An EU working conditions survey showed that people regularly working from home are six times more likely to work in their free time and twice as likely to work 48 hours.

The right to disconnect is especially important  for women, who continue to shoulder the bulk of family responsibilities. Women who telework are already more exposed to psychosocial risks, stress and work-related health problems, largely due to the unequal sharing of domestic labour.  Telework should not be a substitute for care services or parental leave, when workers must be able to ‘switch off’ and dedicate themselves to their families.

The demand for a legal right to disconnect at EU level is not new. A European Parliament resolution in January 2021 recognised it as a fundamental employee right and called for a directive “that enables those who work digitally to disconnect outside their working hours” and to “establish minimum requirements for remote working and clarify working conditions, hours and rest periods”. The health and safety risks arising from new work trends were already set out in a European Parliament briefing note in 2019.

In recent years, a number of EU member states have introduced some form of regulation. France became the first country to pass a right-to-disconnect law in 2016. In Belgium, one of the four pillars of the Labour Deal focuses on a right to disconnect for employees, with an April 2023 deadline for implementation of the rules. In October last year, the Italian Parliament introduced a draft law focusing on employees’ right to avoid communications from their employer or supervisor outside of regular working hours, ensuring a minimum 12-hour period of uninterrupted rest after the end of a workday. The draft law defines ‘work-related communication’ as any form of contact between employers and employees via phone, email, instant messaging services, or any kind of platforms. The proposal also covers self-employed workers and professionals and proposes fines for non-compliant employers. Portugal introduced legislation in 2021, and initiatives have been launched in Spain, Greece, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Ireland. However, a number of EU member states have taken no action or prefer to leave the issue to collective bargaining arrangements.

Even where the right to disconnect exists in national legislation, differences apply to content, coverage, requirements and implementation. In France, for example, 60% of teleworking employees still did not have a formal right to disconnect in 2021. In Spain, only one in three employees reported that the right to disconnect was recognised in their company.

In Ireland, the 2021 code of practice makes no provision for sanctions in the event of non-compliance, and by the end of that year 14% of employees reported that their employer did not acknowledge the right to disconnect.

EU legislation is urgently needed to ensure that everyone is properly protected.  Workers cannot be on call 24/7. The right to disconnect should also include an assessment of staffing levels, workload and working time available. A holistic analysis and regular review would have a positive impact on the health of workers, job satisfaction and productivity. A directive must ensure all workers have an enforceable right to disconnect. It must not limit the scope only to workers performing telework. It should include a legal definition of the right to disconnect that stipulates that workers can switch off their digital devices outside working time and are not obliged to respond to employers’ communications before they are back on duty. Workers must be protected against any penalties for being offline, including discrimination in employment conditions, promotion, or dismissal. The employer should be required to prove that unfair treatment has not taken place.

Enforcement is key, and the directive must provide for sanctions against employers that fail to comply. It should provide for inspections and checks by competent, well-trained authorities with channels for reporting malpractices. The directive needs a strong non-regression and more favourable provision clause.

Finally, the directive must ensure that trade unions and workers’ representatives are fully involved and consulted, able to establish the rules governing the right to disconnect and telework through collective bargaining. Workers who carry out telework have the same rights and protections as others – their status as workers does not change, and they need the facilities to communicate with their trade union representatives.

The digitalisation of work is advancing at breakneck speed. European leaders must face up to the challenges this represents for workers — and quickly. An EU directive on the right to disconnect cannot wait. It is time for the Commission to get going.

This post is sponsored by the ETUC
Claes Mikael Ståhl
Claes-Mikael Ståhl

Claes-Mikael Ståhl (cmstahl@etuc.org) has been deputy general secretary at the European Trade Union Confederation since September 2021. He deals primarily with social dialogue, trade and standardisation.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u42198344ce 92c9 4f54 9a14 edee35fb9221 3 Europe’s Quest for Technological Sovereignty: A Feasible Path Amidst Global RivalriesChristian Reiner and Roman Stöllinger
u4219834670ab 1 Reclaiming Sutan Sjahrir: The Quiet Moral Core of Democratic Socialism in Southeast AsiaDeny Giovanno
u421983467 4b96 a2b4 d663613bf43e 0 A Fair Future?  How Equality Will Define Europe’s Next ChapterKate Pickett
u42198346742 445d 82f2 d4ae7bb125be 2 A Progressive Industrial Policy for the Global South: A Latin American PerspectiveJosé Miguel Ahumada and Fernando Sossdorf

Most Popular Articles

u4219834676 bcba 6b2b3e733ce2 1 The End of an Era: What’s Next After Globalisation?Apostolos Thomadakis
u4219834675 4ff1 998a 404323c89144 1 Why Progressive Governments Keep Failing — And How to Finally Win Back VotersMariana Mazzucato
09d21a9 The Future of Social Democracy: How the German SPD can Win AgainHenning Meyer
u421983462 041df6feef0a 3 Universities Under Siege: A Global Reckoning for Higher EducationManuel Muñiz

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

Cohesion Policy aims to promote harmonious development and reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions of the Union, and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a particular focus on rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, regions with very low population density, islands, cross-border and mountain regions.

READ THE FULL POSITION PAPER HERE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

With a comprehensive set of relevant indicators, presented in 85 graphs and tables, the 2025 Benchmarking Working Europe report examines how EU policies can reconcile economic, social and environmental goals to ensure long-term competitiveness. Considered a key reference, this publication is an invaluable resource for supporting European social dialogue.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
The evolution of working conditions in Europe

This episode of Eurofound Talks examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation.

Mary McCaughey speaks with Barbara Gerstenberger, Eurofound's Head of Unit for Working Life, who leverages insights from the 35-year history of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS).

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out!


It is time to take action and to forge a path towards a Socialist renewal.


European Socialists struggle to balance their responsibilities with the need to take bold positions and actions in the face of many major crises, while far-right political parties are increasingly gaining ground. Against this background, we offer European progressive forces food for thought on projecting themselves into the future.


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss the transformative power of European Social Democracy, examine the far right’s efforts to redesign education systems to serve its own political agenda and highlight the growing threat of anti-gender movements to LGBTIQ+ rights – among other pressing topics.

READ THE MAGAZINE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

BlueskyXWhatsApp