EU right to disconnect: Commission pursues own legislative route after social partner talks collapse

The European Commission is pursuing its own legislative route toward an EU-wide right to disconnect, after more than a year of social partner negotiations ended in failure. The talks, which began in June 2022, collapsed when employers’ organisations BusinessEurope and SME United refused to put forward any negotiating text, effectively blocking the social dialogue process.

The Commission has taken the next step toward a potential EU-level initiative to “reduce the risks of the ‘always-on’ work culture and to ensure fair and quality telework.” While no concrete timeline or draft directive has been published, the energy crisis — which has prompted calls for mass telework — has added new urgency to establishing EU-wide protections for remote workers.

Several EU member states have already implemented their own right-to-disconnect laws, including Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain. Italy is currently drafting its own legislation. However, the patchwork of national approaches creates complexity for remote workers and employers operating across borders, which is precisely the gap an EU directive would fill. For remote workers across Europe, this remains one of the most significant pieces of pending EU employment legislation to watch.