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Eurofound Talks: Is it a right to disconnect?
The COVID-19 pandemic had multiple impacts on society, but perhaps one of the most enduring in terms of the world of work has been the proliferation of telework. Around one-third of jobs in the EU are teleworkable, and an estimated 40 million people telework on a regular basis. While most workers who can telework have embraced it, there have been notable impacts on work-life balance, stress and other psychological risks. This has given rise to calls for a right to disconnect.
While progress on a Directive at European level has stalled, there have already been initiatives at company level and national level, with varying degrees of implementation and success. Eurofound has conducted research exploring EU Member States’ legislation around the right to disconnect and assessed the impact of company policies in this area on employees’ hours of connection, working time, work-life balance, health and well-being, and overall work satisfaction.
In a new episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Tina Weber about this research, the evolution of the right to disconnect in Europe, the reasons why legislative and procedural actions are being called for, the impacts that effective right to disconnect policies can have, and what the debate indicates about the post-pandemic world of work.
Listen to the episode on the Eurofound website, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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