Belgian Workers Will No Longer Have To Respond To Calls After Office Hours

A proposed law in Belgium will ensure that civil servants no longer have to respond to calls or texts from their bosses after office hours. 

Aptly named the ‘Right to Disconnect’, the new rule will be introduced from February 1 by the Green Party’s Minister of Civil Service, Petra De Sutter, as reported by local newspaper De Morgen.

The memo, as seen by the daily paper, states that superiors can only contact workers outside of working hours “in exceptional and unforeseen circumstances, and where action is required that cannot wait until the next working period.” 

More importantly, it ensures that employees “should not be disadvantaged” should they actively choose not to respond to texts or emails outside of work.

According to Vice, De Sutter is lobbying for these rules to be turned into legislation in order to fight “excessive work stress and burnout.” She hopes the initiative will allow employees “better focus, better recuperation, and a more sustainable energy level.”

However, this law will only apply to the 65,000 federal civil servants in the country, and does not extend to employees working for other corporations. The Brussels Times reported that Laurens Teerlinck, spokesperson for Federal Labor Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne, did hint that there could be a similar bill in the works for the private sector.

“After advice from the social partners, a proposal should be discussed, alongside the four-day workweek and regulations for evening work. There will be more information on this over the course of this month,” the spokesperson said. 

Fingers crossed you’ll never have to reply to an “urgent” email at 10pm ever again!

[via Vice and The Brussels Times, cover image via Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com]