The Right to Disconnect Is Really a Workplace Design Issue

The right to disconnect is sometimes discussed as a simple rule about whether an employee must answer a call or email after hours. In practice, it raises a much broader question: has the workplace been designed so that people understand when they are expected to be available?

Modern work has blurred the boundary between working time and personal time. Email, messaging platforms and mobile phones make it easy to contact staff at any hour. For some roles, occasional after-hours contact is unavoidable. For others, constant availability has developed gradually without ever being discussed or properly compensated.

A well-designed workplace should not rely on uncertainty.

POLICIES SHOULD REFLECT THE REAL WORKPLACE

A generic policy stating that employees are not expected to respond after hours may be of limited value if managers routinely send urgent messages at night, deadlines assume weekend work or clients are told that staff are always available.

Policies need to reflect how the organisation actually operates. That means considering different roles, levels of responsibility, time zones, client demands, emergency situations and remuneration arrangements.

The aim is not to prohibit communication. It is to create clarity around when a response is genuinely required and when a message can wait.

THE MANAGER’S MESSAGE MATTERS

Workplace culture is often shaped less by the written policy and more by managerial behaviour. A manager may say that an after-hours email does not require an immediate response, but employees may still feel pressure if rapid replies are praised or silence is later criticised.

Simple practices can reduce that pressure. Managers can schedule non-urgent emails for the following morning, state expressly when no immediate response is expected and avoid creating artificial urgency.

The language used also matters. “Please deal with this tonight” creates a different expectation from “For tomorrow when you are back online.”

ROLE CLARITY IS ESSENTIAL

Some employees are paid to carry higher levels of responsibility or availability. Others work fixed hours and should not be treated as though they are permanently on call.

Employers should identify which roles genuinely require after-hours contact and why. They should also consider whether the employment contract, position description, salary and workload properly reflect that expectation.

A vague statement that reasonable additional hours may be required should not become a substitute for proper workforce planning.

DISPUTES OFTEN BEGIN WITH DIFFERENT ASSUMPTIONS

An employer may view a message as a minor request. The employee may see it as part of a pattern of unpaid work. Conversely, an employee may treat all after-hours contact as prohibited when the role involves legitimate urgent responsibilities.

These disputes are easier to resolve when expectations have been discussed in advance. A useful policy should address:

DOCUMENT THE AGREED EXPECTATIONS

Employment contracts, policies and flexible work arrangements should operate consistently. If an employee is approved to work particular hours but the team continues to expect availability outside those hours, the written arrangement will not solve the practical problem.

Businesses should review employment documents alongside actual work practices. The objective is to remove contradictions and give managers a clear framework for handling after-hours contact.

THE COMMERCIAL BENEFIT OF CLARITY

Clear boundaries are not only about compliance. They assist with retention, productivity and accountability. Employees are more likely to respond appropriately to genuine emergencies when every message is not treated as urgent.

Businesses also benefit from identifying where after-hours contact is a symptom of another problem, such as understaffing, poor delegation, unrealistic client expectations or inefficient systems.

FINAL THOUGHT

The right to disconnect should prompt businesses to examine how work is organised, not simply add another policy to the handbook. The strongest approach is to define expectations clearly, align contracts and policies with reality, train managers and address workloads that depend on constant unpaid availability.

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