‘The right to ignore your Boss’ is the choice that India should make.

You return to your home exhausted from the official workload. You think of spending some quality
time with your family and getting a sound sleep… and suddenly your phone beeps with a mail flashing
on your mobile screen regarding the official day target, which your Boss has sent you. How do you
feel?

Exhausted, irritated and frustrated?

Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule introduced a private member bill in the Lok Sabha, early this
year which was regarding the right of employees to ignore the texts, emails and calls from their
employers after the working hours. This bill, also called as the “Right to Disconnect Bill 2018” has led to
many debates and discussions in the general arena.

It’s definitely after a long time, that a Private Member Bill has led to such debate and discussion in the
public. So first of all, let us know that what is a Private Member Bill?

Our parliamentary model is based upon the British Bicameral Parliamentary Model of governance. This
system is also known as the Westminster system as this term gets its origin from the Palace of
Westminster, the seat of British Parliament. Under the Westminster model of Parliament, the council of
ministers enjoys the privilege of introducing a bill through the concerned ministry, while the rest of the
members of Parliament do not enjoy such a privilege.

In order to ensure a fair participation of the Opposition in the democratic system of governance, the
Westminster model adopted a policy of giving privilege to the members of the Opposition and the
members other than the council of ministers to introduce any bill for discussion in the Parliament. That
bill is known as a Private Member Bill.

Right to Disconnect Bill 2018:

The Right to Disconnect bill aims at giving the employees a relaxed working lifestyle and a balanced
attitude towards the work and the family life of the employees. This bill shall be applicable on any
company or business establishment with more than ten employees. This bill also provides for setting up
an Employee Welfare Committee to ensure compliance of this right.

Section 7 of the proposed bill states that:

“Every employee shall have the right to disconnect out of work hours.

Explanation-for the purpose of this section:-

a) Every employer may contact the worker even after the working hours but the employee shall
have the liberty to refuse or ignore the call; and
b) Such employee shall not be subjected to any kind of disciplinary action by the employer.”
The low bargaining capacity of Indian employees:

India is a growing economy with multiple job opportunities in the private sector and MNCs, which are
primarily located in the metro cities. These companies are focusing on Indian applicants, as the Indian
youth is not so vocal about their employment rights and thus, it is easier for the companies to negotiate
with Indian jobseekers. Indian government’s agenda of Make in India has failed miserably. If our
jobseekers are losing their bargaining capacity, it shall be seen as a sheer violation of all the labour laws
and enactments that our Parliament has passed over the years.

India is still being considered as a labour supplier to the world. The lack of employment opportunities in
India is letting our youths to be exploited by the MNCs. There is no difference between the professional
and personal life of the employees. Undoubtedly, we need a strong piece of legislation in this regard.

The long working hours of offices, particularly in private sector has ruined the social and public lives of
their employees. The work culture and environment in India has deprived its employees’ enjoyment
space.

Right to Disconnect in the foreign countries:

In 2017, France enacted the Right to Disconnect policy in its companies with more than 50 employees. In
Spain as well, there is a Right to Disconnect, regardless of the number of employees. Japan is one step
ahead in this case. It covers not only the workdays but also the holidays. Japan developed a software
back in the year 2014, which auto-deletes the emails from your professional mail id which are sent
during the vacations.

No Private Member Bill passed since 1970:

This bill is however a weak ray of hope for the Indian employees as it is a private member bill and no
such bill has been passed by the Indian Parliament since 1970. But, here it is worth mentioning that this
bill is an appreciable step by the Ms. Sule as an MP.

The Article 21 of the Indian Constitution provides for “Right to Life and Personal Liberty”. This right in
present context shall not only be seen as a right to lead a dignified life but also a relaxed and stress-free
life.

Need of Judicial intervention:

As a law student, I have gone through the cases of Labour Law but till now no such modern pro-labour
judgment has been passed by the Indian courts. In my opinion, the Indian courts should take suo-motto
steps in this regard by issuing certain guidelines to the employers because we have witnessed in past
that whenever the Parliament has failed to protect the people of India, it’s the judiciary which has acted
as a guardian of citizen’s rights.