Now, They Have Right To Ignore Boss After Work Hours

The new normalcy of ‘working from home’ amid the pandemic has a lot of cons besides pros such as easy to get off focus and less valuable interaction and learning.

To much worse, WFH also forced employees to work beyond office time. Finding it difficult to switch off from work mode at home, one may become overly stressed and experience burnout besides overperforming.

In order to deal with this lingering situation, a new work rule in Belgium is being introduced. It was announced that the Government workers in Belgium can now ignore their boss after work hours, as per the new regulations. The decision was made to combat “excessive work stress and burn-out.”

The movement is being called the ‘Right to Disconnect’ and will be introduced for civil workers from February 1 by the Minister of Civil Service Petra De Sutter.

The boss has to make sure to contact employees after work hours only in exceptional and unforeseen circumstances. As per the memo seen by Belgian newspaper De Morge, the employees can be contacted only if action is required that cannot wait until the next working period.

It also read that the employees should “not be disadvantaged” if they choose to not respond to their boss after work hours, which is the whole point of freedom of disregarding a boss.

In short, the boss cannot take disciplinary action if an employee chooses to not respond after stipulated work hours. The new regulations aim to allow “better focus, better recuperation and a more sustainable energy level.”