Digital disconnection is one of the key digital rights recognised for employees in order to promote a healthy balance between personal, family and working life.
This right means that employees are not required to connect to work devices or respond to work-related communications outside their working hours.
Your phone vibrates. It’s a message or an email from your boss. It’s four o’clock on a Sunday afternoon, outside working hours. You’re with your family, having lunch at a restaurant with friends. You tell yourself you won’t reply because it doesn’t seem urgent, but you can’t get it out of your head. Instead of enjoying the moment, you keep thinking about that message, feeling a subtle but constant pressure. This phenomenon is called e-anxiety.
In reality, this state of alert affects your emotional connection with your family. You keep checking your phone, mentally rehearsing possible replies and anticipating what your boss might think if you don’t respond. You know they are always checking emails, even on public holidays, at night, or over the weekend. This adds extra pressure: What will your boss think if you don’t reply?
