연결차단권에 관한 소고 = Study on the Right to Disconnect

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

In this study, the authors propose the necessity of specific and systematic legislation regarding the ‘right to disconnect’ by contemplating related issues. Our society has long been discussing the agenda of shortening the work hour. We should now break away from the cast that encouraged overtime work and holiday work. Furthermore, since initiations regarding tasks after work gives negative effects on employees’ mental health and there is a need of separating strictly work hours and rest hours in order to effectively implement the efforts to shorten the work hour, it is indeed an issue to distinguish the work sphere from the private sphere. Therefore, the right to disconnect is timely agenda in our society.
Traditional regulations and norms to distinguish those two areas are no longer useful in the digital era. However, the right to disconnect solves this problem and even encourages the rational use of digital technology, while avoiding its abuse. This sure is a right that is required in the time of the fourth industrial revolution. Namely, the right to disconnect is a societal effort to protect laborers’ right to have rest and to protect their privacy as citizens.
There are various discussions taking place internationally. In Europe, especially in France and Germany, there is a lot of discussion about overtime work and the right to disconnect, and France has already enacted a right to disconnect, and most recently, Australia has proposed a similar bill. As workers’ right to rest is limited by the fact that they remain connected after work and mental tension may be maintained, legislation on disconnection is necessary to minimize unnecessary stress on workers and improve labor productivity by ensuring a real right to rest.
In terms of specific legislative measures, it is socially appropriate to introduce a shutdown system that prevents employers from contacting workers after 22:00 unless there is an urgent reason such as a disaster. In addition, in order to improve the working environment, reduce the actual working hours of workers, and reduce stress and interruption of rest due to non-work contacts, it would be appropriate to set a higher amount of overtime pay than the usual overtime pay for employers to bear more financial burden, and compensatory leave to replace the payment of overtime pay should be actively utilized.
On the other hand, in extreme cases where an employer ignores a worker’s private life and continuously tries to contact them, it should be possible to regulate it as workplace harassment, and in order to ensure the effectiveness of the right to disconnect, it is necessary to consider the need to identify private acts unrelated to work as harassment, such as alienating workers who do not fulfill instructions for contacting them after hours or giving them disadvantages such as job exclusion, and even adverse personnel measures and unfair dismissal.