If you run a business and with it a team of employees, it’s likely you have given some thought to work-life balance before.

You might have read our previous insights into whether the four-day work week is right for your business, and how to avoid business owner burnout and achieve harmony in your working life. But you may not know that the “right to disconnect” is not just an ideal, it’s actually a legal requirement for Irish businesses.

Considering that a nationwide survey published by the Irish Examiner found that 23% of Irish employees feel overworked, it’s important to recognise and exercise the right to disconnect in your business.

Keep reading to discover what the legal right to disconnect is and how you might want to apply it to your business.

The 3 key principles of Ireland’s right to disconnect

Established in 2021 but little discussed, the Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect enshrines employees’ entitlement to completely disengage from work outside of their contracted hours.

According to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, there are three core principles that business owners and their employees need to be aware of.

1. The right of an employee not to have to routinely perform work outside their normal working hours

In short, this element describes an employee’s entitlement to total “off time” when they’re not at work. This includes not answering emails and phone calls, or being expected to perform duties outside of their normal hours.

In the age of prevalent remote working, this could be especially important to understand for both employees and business owners. While it’s easy to leave your laptop at the office or put down your tools and walk away at 5 pm, remote workers might find it more challenging to totally disconnect from work once the day is done.

2. The right not to be penalised for disconnecting

It’s likely you have employees who routinely go above and beyond the call of duty to get the job done. While you may wish to reward those individuals who are willing to put in maximum effort outside of their normal hours, be careful not to overstep your team’s right not to be penalised for disconnecting.

Imagine you’re looking to promote someone in your team, and you have two possible candidates to consider.

Both are exemplary employees, but one sets clear boundaries and does not perform work outside of their contracted hours, while the other regularly works late to prove their dedication. By promoting the second employee over the first on this basis alone, you could be seen to be “penalising” the first employee for exercising their right to disconnect.

3. The duty to respect another person’s right to disconnect

As a business owner, this duty largely falls to you.

Contacting employees outside of their usual hours or expecting people to work late for no overtime pay could mean you’re disregarding the right to disconnect – especially if employees who say “no” are given fewer opportunities, or are treated differently, as a result.

3 easy ways your business can enshrine the legal right to disconnect

Here are three practical tips for business owners who wish to apply the right to disconnect in a fair and productive manner.

1. Run a short seminar for employees

If you’ve never covered the basics with your team, it might help to run a short seminar on the right to disconnect and what it means for them.

You could talk about:

• Stepping away from work at the end of the day, especially if they work remotely and can all too easily keep working during the evenings
• Reaching out to a manager if the workload feels too burdensome
• Offering rewards for hard work during contracted hours, rather than rewarding those who regularly stay late or start early.

These points could simply broaden employees’ awareness of their right to disconnect and encourage them to reach out if they’re struggling to do so.

2. Encourage work-life balance

Being open and encouraging about work-life balance could shift your business’s culture away from overworking and towards efficiency.

Holding employees to a high standard while they’re at work, but making sure they take time off and rest outside of work, could be more effective than demanding longer hours.

Some tips for encouraging work-life balance include:

• Give employees a range of wellbeing benefits, such as mental health support or gym access
• Ensure employees take the right number of breaks for the correct amount of time during their shift
• Discourage sending emails or direct messages first thing in the morning or late at night
• Provide appropriate holiday cover so that employees who have had time off don’t have to work overtime when they return
• Give employees the full right to disconnect on religious holidays, parental leave, and bereavement leave
• Warn employees against using their personal phone for workplace communications
• Regularly check in with employees’ wellbeing during appraisals or one-to-ones.

Each of these practices could slowly begin to engrain the right to disconnect and improve employee wellbeing in the process.

3. Practise what you preach

As a business owner, your team looks up to you. So, if you often struggle to disconnect and usually find yourself working long beyond normal hours, your employees may feel pressured to follow suit.

That’s why it may help to truly practise what you preach. While it’s a legal requirement to allow your employees to disconnect from work, you might not think this applies to you – but setting an example could go a long way.

Manage your personal finances with iQ Financial

We specialise in working with business owners like you who have a lot on their plate. Our financial planners are ready and waiting to help you manage and grow your personal wealth.

Email us at clients@iqf.ie, or call 353 71 915 5560.

Please note

This article is for information only. It does not constitute advice.

It describes financial planning services that iQ Financial can offer to you. Financial planning services are not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.