The development of technology has a significant impact and creates new requirements in the field of labour-law relations. One of these requirements is the protection of occupational health and safety by preventing the blurring of boundaries between employees’ work and private lives. The most important means which is currently the subject of discussions in the professional community, but also in practice, is the right to disconnect. This paper is devoted exactly to this right, its perception at the level of the institutions of the European Union, and its legal enshrinement in the legislation of the Slovak Republic.
The paper aims to provide theoretical insights and explore the comparative legal practice of approaching mental health and well-being at the workplace by applying legal normative and comparative methods in a digitalized world of work. In this regard, subordination vs autonomy needs to be considered as a starting theoretical point accompanied by an overview of comparative legal approaches that have recently introduced some novel legal mechanisms, such as the right to disconnect to deal better with the exercise of fundamental labor rights. Additionally, introducing a psychosocial risk management model in occupational health and safety could significantly improve workers’ mental health and well-being in the digital age. Therefore, the proactive, holistic, and integrated approach to workers’ rights and status in the digital environment must be analyzed by exploring the bounding point between organizational management views on the subject and labor law standpoints.
The digital revolution, also called the fourth industrial revolution, constitutes another era of change, caused by the development of computerisation and modern technologies. It is characterised by rapid technological progress, widespread digitisation and an impact on all areas of life, including the provision of work. The changes affecting this area are so significant that there are proposals to remodel the definition of the employment relationship in the Labour Code. New forms of employment, which do not fit the conventional definition of an employment relationship, are emerging and gaining importance. An example could be employment via digital platforms. At the same time, there are also employment forms that do fit that definition, but deviate from the conventional understanding of the terms and conditions for performing work, which have undergone modification due to the use of new technologies. Teleworking, or working outside the employer’s premises, are examples of that. Employers get further opportunities to organise and control work, which often raises concerns due to the employee’s right to privacy, the protection of personal rights and personal data.
The aim of this study is to define the origins and scope of the right to be offline from a European perspective, both with regard to legal regulations and specific sources of labor law in selected European countries and the resolution of the European Parliament adopted on January 21, 2021, calling on the European Commission to regulate the right to disconnect in a separate directive. These considerations are enriched by the analysis of European-level surveys on working conditions of workers using information and communication technologies (ICT) both before and during the pandemic, with particular emphasis on the impact of digital tools on the life and health of remote workers. The analysis of the results of the presented research both from the perspective of technological development and the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, allows to identify significant threats to the safety of remote workers, primarily in the psychosocial sphere, which in turn may lead to the conclusion that it is necessary to regulate the right to be offline at European level.
PL
Celem niniejszego opracowania jest określenie genezy oraz zakresu prawa do bycia offline z perspektywy europejskiej, zarówno mając na względzie regulacje prawne i specyficzne źródła prawa pracy w wybranych państwach europejskich, jak i przyjętą 21 stycznia 2021 r. rezolucję Parlamentu Europejskiego wzywającą Komisję Europejską do uregulowania prawa do odłączenia się pracowników w drodze dyrektywy. Rozważania te wzbogacone są analizą prowadzonych na poziomie europejskim badań ankietowych dotyczących warunków świadczenia pracy przy użyciu technologii informacyjno-komunikacyjnych (ICT) zarówno przed pandemią, jak i w jej trakcie, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem wpływu narzędzi cyfrowych na życie i zdrowie pracowników świadczących pracę w formie zdalnej. Analiza wyników przedstawionych badań zarówno z perspektywy rozwoju technologicznego, jak i sytuacji wywołanej przez pandemię COVID-19, pozwala zidentyfikować istotne zagrożenia dla bezpieczeństwa pracowników zdalnych przede wszystkim w sferze psychospołecznej, co z kolei może prowadzić do wniosku, iż konieczne jest uregulowanie prawa do bycia offline na poziomie europejskim.
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