To protect employees personal time: Supriya Sule introduces Right to Disconnect Bill in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: NCP MP Supriya Sule on Friday introduced a private member’s bill in the Lok Sabha seeking to ensure that employees are not obliged to respond to work calls and emails after office hours. Titled the Right to Disconnect 2025, the bill was tabled during the Winter Session.

The proposed legislation calls for the creation of an employees’ welfare authority and grants workers the right to disengage from official communication beyond working hours and on holidays. It also provides the freedom to decline attending to work-related calls or messages outside designated hours.

Alongside this, Sule also placed two additional bills before the lower house: the Paternity and Paternal Benefits Bill 2025 and the Code on Social Security Bill 2025. In a post on X, she wrote, "The Paternity and Paternal Benefits Bill, 2025, introduces paid paternal leave to ensure fathers have the legal right to take part in their child's early development. It breaks the traditional model, supports the new mother's well-being, and promotes flexible parenting."

Speaking on the right to disconnect, she said, "The second bill, the Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025, provides every employee the right to disconnect from work-related electronic communications. It fosters a better quality of life and a healthier work-life balance by reducing the burnout caused by today's digital culture."

Regarding gig workers, Sule added, "And finally, the Code on Social Security (Amendment) Bill, 2025, recognises platform-based gig workers as a distinct category, ensuring minimum wages, regulated hours, social security, fair conditions, and equitable contracts to ensure a fairer, more sustainable environment and economy for them."

The Right to Disconnect Bill cites studies showing that round-the-clock availability expectations lead to overwork, sleep deprivation, emotional exhaustion and stress. It warns of rising "telepressure”—the compulsion to constantly attend to calls and emails, even during weekends or holidays—which has significantly harmed the work-life balance of employees.

The bill notes, "According to a study, the constant monitoring of work-related messages and emails may overtax employees' brains, leading to a condition called 'info-obesity'."

It further stresses the need to acknowledge employee rights while accounting for the competitive requirements and varied work cultures of companies. To accommodate this, the bill encourages flexible right-to-disconnect norms that can be negotiated between employers and employees.

Sule also said that digital transformation has altered employment conditions, especially working hours and locations. Hence, if an employee chooses to work beyond regular hours, the bill proposes that they must be compensated with overtime pay at their standard wage rate, a safeguard aimed at preventing the surge in unpaid digital overtime.