There’s few things as maddening as getting a work call just as you’ve left office. Feigning politeness as you fume underneath is a tough ask. Member of Parliament Supriya Sule wants to change all that however, with a little thing called the Right to Disconnect Bill.
Sule is a member of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). According to Indian Express, she presented the private member bill on December 28.
It allows employees to refuse work-related calls and emails beyond office hours and on holidays.
The Right to Disconnect Bill stipulates that companies have to detail out-of-work demands as a way to reduce stress and ease tension between an employee’s personal and professional life.
Companies with more than 10 employees would periodically negotiate specific terms with their workers, publish their own charter, and create an Employee Welfare Committee consisting of representatives of the company’s workforce, the Bill states.
According to the bill, disciplinary action against an employee is forbidden if the employer tries to contact them outside of established conditions.
If the employee works outside of the agreed-upon conditions, he or she is entitled to overtime.
The revolution is finally being televised, folks!
While speaking to the Indian Express, Sule said –
“Studies have found that if an employee is expected to be available round the clock, they tend to exhibit risks of over-work like sleep deprivation, developing stress and being emotionally exhausted. This persistent urge to respond to calls and e-mails (termed as ‘telepressure’), constant checking of e-mails throughout the day, and even on weekends and holidays, is reported to have destroyed work-life balance of employees.”
Folks online lauded the effort.
The right to disconnect bill is indeed the necessity of modern age of digitization. I personally thank you for bringing such an important bill in parliament for the benefit of employees. @supriya_sule #slowcentre
— Deepak Motiramani (@DeepMots) January 9, 2019
Indian legislators thinking of ways to reduce stress for workforce after work hours – Right to disconnect bill – Ignore Calls After Work – https://t.co/Jl4rN8tEdD
— Je Suis Confused (@imaxxs) January 9, 2019
‘Right to disconnect’ great 👌👌But not possible every time😒, urgent work is urgent 🙄.
— Zindagi (@jyotismiles4u) January 10, 2019
Just imagine – a world with no more post-work pressure.
*Goes home – Switches off phone – Switches it back on ‘cos Instagram*
