free right to disconnect policy template sample
Right to Disconnect Policy Support your employees' right to disconnect from work.

Right to Disconnect Policy Template Sample - Free!

Download this free Right to Disconnect Policy template sample.  The Right to Disconnect Policy communicates that management encourages and supports your remote workers ability to disconnect from work and not engage in work-related communications outside of work hours. 

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What's Included in a Right to Disconnect Policy?

The Right to Disconnect Policy template includes the following sections: 

  • Closely-related Policies
  • Overview
  • Policy
    • ​Hours of Work & Overtime
    • Regular Breaks
    • Outside of Regular Business Hours
    • Meetings
    • Responsibilities
      • ​Employee
      • Manager​
  • Procedure
    • ​Overview
    • Reporting Concerns

Why Introduce a Right to Disconnect Policy?

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the way people work. With more people working from home and needing to be constantly reachable, the boundaries between work and private life have become increasingly hazy, and an increased reporting of employee burnout has fast tracked the importance of implementing a right to disconnect policy. Studies today show that a constant work schedule is in fact linked to inefficiency and bad time management. We continue to hear more stories about employers setting unreasonable expectations that being available 'at all times' is a must for their employees.

Today, being available at any time for online and mobile communications could be considered as potentially hazardous, both to the employee and employer. Lawmakers in favour of the right to disconnect say that the need for employees to be available via smartphone or e-mail around the clock is detrimental to one's mental health and well-being, and that employees should be allowed to be offline without suffering employer retribution as a result.

A Right to Disconnect policy and procedure can help to ensure that both employers and employees maximize the benefit from our new remote and flexible working environment.  Workplaces should put in place policies and procedures to ensure that employees’ rights are preserved, that work is carried out productively and that the working relationship between employer and employee is balanced and mutually beneficial. 

Benefits of having a Right to Disconnect Policy

  • Avoid employee burnout, workplace inefficiencies and bad time management.
  • Set clear responsibilities for both employer and employee, maximizing the benefit of the remote and flexible working environment. 
  • Be clear that your business does not support an 'always on' work culture, but rather encourages employees to balance work and personal lives. 
  • Provide clear procedures for those employees who wish to present concerns about being overworked.
  • Allow employees to base their concerns on real data, directing them to use Weekly Status Reports and Job Activity Logs which will support both employee and employer to determine employee workload and find solution in the case of reported concerns of an unsustainable workload. 


 

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For FREE!

PLUS, download another template of your choice.
LIMITED TIME BONUS! Get an additional 5 of our most popular HR Templates for free!

Find out more.

 
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