W
hen you hear a notification ping from your phone, can you guess who it’ll be from? Maybe it’s a friend sharing a meme or parents checking in? Maybe it’s your boss asking a question or reminding you about an upcoming deadline? The fact is, the digital workplace that’s been creeping into our lives for several years suddenly became the norm once the pandemic forced many workers to go remote. While many may appreciate the increased flexibility that working from home provides, this new work culture has made it increasingly challenging to disconnect from one’s job. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance has been made harder than ever as the line between workplace and home has started to blur. A 2021 report from Statistics Canada found that many Canadians experience negative physical
Maintaining a healthy worklife balance has been made harder than ever as the line between workplace and home has started to blur. 14 IMMpress Vol. 10 No. 1 2022
and mental health effects from not being able to “switch off” after work due to cognitive and emotional overload from constant connectivity. Women in particular face challenges in achieving a work-life balance, often working more unpaid overtime and performing additional work activities compared to men. Women are also more likely to work in professional and office-based environments, where burnout from being always connected is more common. In response, “right to disconnect” laws began appearing in Europe in the late 2010s: France in 2016, Italy in 2017, and Spain in 2018, and were designed to protect an employee’s right to not respond to calls and messages from work outside of regular working hours. The hope was that these rules would deter employers from overreaching into their employees’ private lives. These laws also made it clear that workers couldn’t be penalized for logging off by being denied raises or promotions. Some companies have also taken it upon themselves to introduce policies that protect the right to disconnect. As far back as 2011, Volkswagen began disabling its e-mail servers between 6:15 pm and 7:00 am to try to dissuade “crackberry” behaviours.
