Belgium Gives People The Right To Disconnect From Work: Can Other Countries Follow?

For civil servants in Belgium, the right to disconnect will relieve them from answering work-related calls and emails after office hours. A new law, which comes into effect February 1, seeks to allow 65000 officials in the west European country to combat a growing culture of stress and burnout, which has only been exacerbated by the pandemic-induced work-from-home situation.

Volkswagen in Germany had the foresight of introducing such after-work conditions back in 2012. In light of the ongoing mental health crisis and the lockdowns, a law backing people's right to disconnect takes on an even more compelling meaning.

Through multiple rounds of being stuck at home since 2020, balancing domestic and professional tasks, we're all hanging by frail threads. Anxiety has become a fast friend to many while grief comes and goes in waves, mirroring the pandemic's tendencies. A lot of us are standing on the edge of burnout; just one prod would be enough to push us over.

Suggested Reading: School Headmaster Kisses Girl: Who Will Teach Teachers About Good And Bad Touch?

Belgium Right To Disconnect: Should More Countries Follow Suit?

A major villain behind this state of mind is the work-from-home setting. Those of us fortunate enough to have and retain jobs through two years of the pandemic know how such a routine permits work to generously encroach over other aspects of life.

The no-shoptalk-at-home privilege no longer exists. Numerous friends have told me how co-workers and bosses alike feel entitled to call them far past work hours. Eternally plugged into mobile data, messages keep pouring in 24/7, time no bar. Nothing is off-limits anymore. What's worse, with internet resources becoming more accessible, people are expected to be available all the time.

Can we switch off anymore? The toxic culture of having to be available 24/7

What does such blurring of boundaries imply for mental health? Does it accelerate burnout and dysfunction? Is this toxic culture justifying an invasion of privacy? Should the convenience of work-from-home be cited for expanding work roles at static salaries?

Suggested Reading: Debunking 6 Myths About Working Moms. Time To Do Away With These?

In its global estimate of COVID-19 impact on mental health in 2020, Lancet noted a sharp increase of 76.2 million cases and 53.2 million cases in anxiety disorders and major depressive disorders respectively. Ample studies over the pandemic years pointed out an increase in stress levels of people working from home. Surprising? Wasn't the WFH agreement meant to value comfort above all? Isolation and loneliness have prompted mental distress in people locked indoors.

With a focus on "the need to regulate what needs to be regulated," Portugal made it illegal, under its new labour laws last year, for bosses to call employees after hours. Do other countries too need such rulings to curb overworking fatigue?

India was considering shifting to a four-day, 48-hour workweek starting this financial year. But in increasing the daily standard of eight hours to 12, will this labour code fuel any positive change towards necessary relief from long work times? Or will extended work hours only make the pressure and exhaustion that we feel worse?

The culture of perpetual availability extends past office work into interactions with friends as well. Should having a phone with us mean we have to be accessible all the time? Respond to every non-urgent message promptly? Setting up boundaries should not make us feel guilty. Perhaps an overhead announcement would assist in legitimising our right to disconnect.

Views expressed are the author's own.