Over 80% of Office Workers "Receive Work Orders After Leaving"
Labor Laws in France, Italy, and Others Specify This Right
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] 'KakaoTalk, KakaoTalk...' Can we escape the stress caused by work-related messages after leaving work? The hyper-connected society brought about by advances in telecommunications and internet technology is instead leading to excessive labor for workers. There is a growing call to guarantee the 'Right to disconnect' from the company outside of working hours.
The right to disconnect refers to the right not to receive work-related communications outside of working hours. In other words, it guarantees that responding to work-related messages sent after working hours is not a violation of professional duties. It separates the boundaries between work and private life to ensure workers' leisure time and privacy protection.
Many office workers have experienced receiving work-related messages after leaving work. According to the 2021 report by the Gyeonggi Research Institute titled 'The Right to Disconnect is a Precious Right That Must Be Protected,' 87.8% of respondents had received work instructions after leaving work. The survey was conducted among 500 wage workers residing in Gyeonggi Province.
Work instructions outside working hours were most actively given through personal messengers such as KakaoTalk (73.6%), followed by phone calls (69.2%) and text messages (60.0%). Work instructions via email (38.6%) and internal messengers (35.6%) were relatively less frequent.
The right to disconnect is already guaranteed in several countries overseas. On January 1, 2017, France became the first country in the world to legislate this right. Companies with 50 or more employees are required to include labor-management consultations on the right to disconnect in their mandatory annual negotiations, and employers who violate this are subject to imprisonment of up to one year or fines of up to 3,750 euros (approximately 5 million KRW). In addition, countries such as Italy, Slovakia, the Philippines, and Portugal have specified the right to disconnect in their labor laws.
In South Korea, related bills have also been proposed in the National Assembly. In September last year, Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea introduced a partial amendment to the Labor Standards Act, known as the 'Ban on KakaoTalk after Work Act,' which prohibits repetitive work instructions via mobile phones such as KakaoTalk after leaving work.
If repetitive and continuous contact disrupts the rhythm of rest or requires separate time to respond, it should be considered overtime work. Violations of this law will result in fines of up to 5 million KRW.
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