The right to disconnect in an ‘always-on’ economy

In the digital age, our greatest tools of productivity — the smartphone, the laptop, the instantaneous email — have become our silent, 24X7 taskmasters. They have eroded the vital boundary between professional life and personal well-being, turning evenings, weekends, and even holidays, into extensions of the workday. This culture of constant availability is not a badge of dedication; it is a creeping sickness, and its diagnosis is writ large across the face of the Indian workforce. The time has come for India to officially legislate a fundamental right for its citizens: the right to disconnect.

As the proposer of a Private Member’s Bill advocating this very measure, I believe that this is not merely a piece of progressive labour reform. It is a national imperative for public health, long-term economic productivity, and social stability. We cannot achieve our aspirations as a global power if our most valuable resource — our people — are quietly burning out.

An unsustainable pace of work in India

The data paint a grim picture. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), a staggering 51% of India’s workforce works more than 49 hours per week, placing the country second globally for extended working hours. This is an unsustainable pace. The human cost of this relentless cycle is even more alarming: 78% of employees in India report experiencing job burnout, leading inevitably to physical and emotional exhaustion.

This crisis of perpetual availability is not a matter of feeling fatigued; it translates directly into severe health conditions. The lack of a proper work-life balance contributes significantly to lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, anxiety and depression. These are not just individual tragedies; they are a societal burden that drains our health-care system and severely impairs organisational productivity. A fatigued worker is less creative, more prone to error, and, ultimately, less productive. The current emphasis on measuring work by sheer duration over quality is archaic and self-defeating. The tragic death of Anna Sebastian Perayil (the healthy young E&Y employee who literally died of overwork in 2024) was a warning for the entire workforce. Furthermore, work-related stress, often fuelled by the expectation of 24X7 digital availability, is a significant contributor to the burgeoning national mental health crisis, accounting for 10%-12% of cases, as per the National Mental Health Survey. To ignore this silent epidemic is to wilfully neglect the well-being of the nation.

India’s current legal framework, despite recent attempts, remains insufficient to protect the average worker in the hyper-connected, modern economy. The Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code, 2020, sets a maximum limit on working hours for traditional “workers”, but critically, it often fails to extend the same protection to all “employees”, particularly contractual, freelance, and gig workers. This gap leaves a large portion of India’s young, digitally-native, and highly vulnerable workforce exposed to exploitative working hours, without adequate safeguards. In a system where employees fear disciplinary action or termination simply for failing to answer a late night email, the power dynamic is inherently skewed towards the employer.

A global issue

My proposed Bill aims to correct this foundational flaw. It is crucial that the Code is amended to clearly define and limit working hours for all employees. It seeks to enshrine the “right to disconnect” in law, ensuring two core protections: first, employees cannot be penalised, disciplined, or discriminated against for refusing to respond to work-related communication beyond their specified working hours. Second, a mechanism must be established to address and resolve grievances when the rights of workers are infringed upon. Both are fundamentally about restoring dignity and ensuring that the right to recharge is respected, allowing individuals to maintain their physical and mental well-being without fear of professional repercussions.

India is not alone in grappling with the challenges of the ‘always-on’ economy. This is a global issue demanding a legislative response. Countries across the world have already recognised this necessity, setting a clear precedent that we must now follow. France, a pioneer in this area, introduced the “right to disconnect” as far back as 2017. Since then, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Australia have followed suit, embedding similar protections into their labour codes.

These laws mandate that companies negotiate specific protocols to limit after-hours digital communication. This is a clear signal that the most developed economies understand that respecting downtime is not an impediment to economic growth, but a precondition for sustainable growth. We must shed the myth that the world will stop turning if an email is answered the next morning.

The law, however, is merely a framework. The “right to disconnect” is defined as the employee being no longer compelled to remain available beyond their regular working hours, thereby blurring the lines between their personal and professional lives and exacerbating stress and burnout. The legislation provides the shield, but we must also wield the sword of cultural change.

The legislative momentum behind the right to disconnect confirms its urgency, with pioneering States such as Kerala already introducing their own legislation for the local private sector. While these State-level initiatives are commendable steps, the complexity and national scale of the ‘always-on’ crisis demand a uniform, central amendment to secure this protection for every Indian worker. My proposed Bill, by amending the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020), ensures that this right is foundational across all States and, critically, extends protection to the vulnerable contractual and gig workforce often left out by current definitions. This national approach embeds the right to disconnect as an essential pillar of occupational safety, including mandated mental health support, transforming it from a simple prohibition on employer action into a holistic mandate for employee well-being.

Other interconnected steps to take

Still, laws alone are insufficient to facilitate meaningful transformation. For any legislation to be effective, it must be supported by comprehensive awareness programmes, advocacy and sensitisation workshops for both employees and management. It is especially important to address the organisational norms that perpetuate toxic work cultures — those where “presenteeism” is valued over actual output, and where the late night email is seen as a proxy for commitment. The provisions for proactive mental health support services, including counselling and psychological support for workers, must, therefore, become integral to the new workplace ethos.

The right to disconnect is an investment. It is an acknowledgment that well-rested minds are sharper, more innovative and more committed in the long run. By allowing employees to genuinely recharge and recover, we are not simply reducing working hours. We are dramatically enhancing the quality of those hours spent on the job.

Incorporating legal protections for a work-life balance — the right to disconnect and limiting working hours — will forge a holistic and vigorous approach toward improving the workplace environment in India. By focusing on the well-being of our employees, both their physical and mental health will improve, creating a more sustainable and, ultimately, more productive workforce for the future of India.

The choice before us is clear: to continue down the path of burnout, risking the health and potential of our young demographic dividend, or to embrace this reform, liberating our workforce and proving that India’s economy is built not just on speed, but on the strength and sustainability of its people. I urge the government to implement this necessary step towards a healthier, happier, and more productive nation.

Shashi Tharoor is the fourth-term Member of Parliament (Congress) for Thiruvananthapuram (Lok Sabha), an award-winning author, a former Minister of State for Human Rights Resources Development and a former Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology