On November 16, 2023, the amended Employment Relationships Act (ZDR-1D) entered into force. It introduces the right to disconnect in article 142.a, which requires that the employers provide workers with a right to be unavailable during the exercise of their right to rest or during justified absences from work (in particular during holidays, weekends, annual leave, sick leave, etc.). It is not merely the right to be physically absent from the workplace during this time but above all the disconnection from digital tools.
The measures to be taken by the employer are determined by a collective agreement at the level of the activity. If no such agreement is made, or if the matter is not covered by such an agreement, this should be determined by a collective agreement at a narrower level. If the employer is not bound by a collective agreement, the matter must be regulated in an internal act of the employer, which should be adopted following the normal procedure for such acts. The act must be communicated to the workers in the manner customary for the employer (e.g. on a notice board in the employer's premises, using technology, etc.) so that all workers are aware of it.
In addition, it is advisable to specify the right in the contract of employment itself, so that both parties agree to the exact time the worker must be available to the employer. Outside these hours, the worker is not obliged to be available and should not be subject to sanctions or other retaliatory measures.
The law does not specify how the right should be exercised, so it is up to the employer to implement it on a day-to-day basis. Employers can take different types of measures. Soft measures focus mainly on raising awareness among workers about the dangers of constant exposure to communication technology, while stricter measures focus on a complete cessation of the employer's communication with workers. Examples of exercising the right to disconnect may include, but are not limited to:
- Turning off email servers after the workday and turning them back on the next workday,
- Training and management of out-of-hours communications, for example in the form of regular reminders that the employee does not need to reply to emails during leave time,
- Deleting mail from the archive when a message is received and notifying the sender of its deletion. If the matter is urgent, other contacts should be forwarded to the sender,
- An automated answering machine for the message received, if sent during a worker’s justified absence,
- Prohibition of convening meetings outside reasonable working hours,
- Timely convening of meetings and fixing in advance the latest possible time for completion of the meeting;
While measures may vary depending on the activity, the right must be guaranteed to all workers. Exceptions from the right are allowed, but only in cases of force majeure or exceptional circumstances, which the employer must specify in the regulations and inform the worker of beforehand. In the case of a dispute regarding the right to disconnect, the employer will bear the burden of proof.
Employers have only a few months left to implement the measures. The Act stipulates that these must be adopted within one year of the enactment, which means by November 16, 2024. If the appropriate measures are not implemented, employers may be liable to a fine.
