The Right To Disconnect and Work-Life Balance in Nigeria

The desire to strike a fair balance between work and private life is the dream of every labourer (Employer & Employee), While most Employers enjoy the privilege of flexibility in working hours, most employees are bound by the terms and conditions regulating hours of work and must balance the long work hours with a private life guaranteed under the law. The right of an employee to disconnect refers to the right to ignore work-related communications outside working hours.

According to the ILO, the Right to Disconnect entails that employees are free to disengage from work and refrain from engaging in work-related electronic communication, such as emails, texting, or other communication during non-working hours. This means that an employee is justified in ignoring work-related calls, emails, signals, or any forms of communication outside the official working hours. The right to disconnect must be seen as a concrete measure to ensure that everyone has the right to fair, just, healthy and safe working conditions and appropriate protection in the digital environment as in the physical workplace, regardless of their employment status, modality or duration.

Primarily, it aims to safeguard workers’ health and safety in a broad sense, by ensuring respect for working time regulations by explicitly guaranteeing the right of workers not to be disturbed outside working hours, limiting and changing the ‘always on’ culture while ensuring proper use of digital tools. This will also contribute to achieving a better work-life balance, by guaranteeing resting time and improving the predictability of working schedules.

?Apart from the emergence of digital tools creating endless opportunities for remote work and digital communication, the COVID-19 pandemic further blurred the lines between work life and personal life as many employees are required to work from home to curb the spread of the virus. This interval obviates the essence of the right to disconnect and the need to protect employees from the invasion of private life during non-working hours. The rationale is to prevent unpaid overtime and protect the mental health of employees by helping employees achieve a work-life balance. In pursuit of these goals, countries like France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Australia, Portugal and Belgium have adopted labour laws tailored to protect the non-working hours of workers from incessant intrusion by setting boundaries for working and non-working hours and providing penalties for default by employers.

Teddy, a Finance Associate at Fortune Capital Group- a Venture Capital Group in Nigeria enjoyed a higher salary than her previous employment but this came with a higher price. A New job with new expectations and scaling through the probationary period was tough and now she must keep the momentum of working in and out of the agreed working hours.

In Nigeria, hours work is regulated majorly by employment contract and based on her contract, she is required to report for work between 9 am-6 pm on Mondays – Thursdays and work remotely on Fridays. Apart from the agreed hours, Teddy often works off the clock by responding to work-related emails, calls, and SMS prompting her to respond to work stuff. This harms her social and family life. This got more difficult when Teddy tied the knot with her long-term boyfriend, Gabby.

Incessant work-related activities like midnight calls, zoom meetings and mini tasks out of working hours and weekends irritated Gabby and deprived him of quality time with his Teddy. Teddy is one among other Nigerians struggling to strike a balance between being a committed employee and a dutiful wife. It’s difficult to draw the line and a slip in commitment to work or private life may signal a lack of commitment or the priority of one over the other. Here is a gap that only the law can fix and protect. The Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to private life. It recognizes the right to work, but no law in Nigeria regulates the sanctity of private life considering the changing world of work.

This is where the right to disconnect is relevant. Teddy is not happy to receive a call from her Supervisor at 11:30 p.m., but she will answer just in case it’s an emergency and wants to remain in the books of devoted employees and avoid retaliation that can cost her a dear job. While Teddy struggles with work conditions, this deprives Gabby of attention and personal time from Teddy. ?She was recently reprimanded by her Supervisor for being unreachable within a non-working hour.

Teddy’s case is a glimpse into the reality of many employees in Nigeria as many find it difficult to navigate the lines between work and home. There is no protection of non-working hours in Nigeria, unlike France where Employers with more than 50 workers are required to communicate hours when staff are not supposed to send or answer emails. In Australia, the right to disconnect allows employees to refuse work-related contact outside of working hours, without fear of being punished. Spain, Portugal, and Belgium have all introduced similar legislation, and it is expected to form part of the new UK government’s employment rights reforms. Recently the State of California proposed the “Right To Disconnect” Bill?(Assembly Bill (AB) 2751), which would require employers to establish a workplace policy that provides employees the right to ignore communications with employers during non-working hours. According to the bill, employers would be required to define and establish nonworking hours in a written agreement. Additionally, the bill would allow employees to file complaints to the Labor Commissioner if their employer has a pattern of violating the bill’s provisions of at least three times, which could be subject civil penalty of at least $100.

In the words of Democratic State Assembly member, Matt Haney who represents San Francisco;

“Workers shouldn’t be punished for not being available 24/7 if they’re not being paid for 24 hours of work. People have to be able to spend time with their families without being constantly interrupted at the dinner table or their kids’ birthday party, worried about their phones and responding to work.”

In Africa, only the Kenyan Senate is considering the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2022, According to it, the Bill if passed would give workers the right to disconnect from electronic communications like e-mails and messages from work which is beyond their working hours or on weekends and public holidays, as per reports. The new proposed laws could bring a significant shift in the workplace environment.

There are Exceptions-

Yes! there are exceptional situations where the right to disconnect will give way to a duty to reconnect and this is limited to unforeseen situations that threaten an employee, customer, or the public; disrupt or shut down operations, or cause physical or environmental damage. All reconnections during a disconnection time should entitle the employee to compensation commensurate with the facts. An abrupt change to a schedule within 24 hours is the second exemption widely recognized by countries.?

Protection against Retaliation or adverse treatment

The exercise of the right to disconnect must not lead to any adverse treatment or retaliation, including discrimination, downgrading, disciplinary sanctions, or dismissal for the individual worker concerned as well as their representatives. Where an employee is subject to disciplinary actions or other adverse treatment after a worker refuses to be available while covered by the right to disconnect, they may bring to court facts from which it may be presumed that such refusal was the ground for disciplinary action or adverse treatment. It shall then be for the employer to prove that the disciplinary action or other adverse treatment was justified in the circumstance.

Amidst lots of challenges of the world of work in Nigeria, some may consider the regulation on non-working hours and minimum hours of rest for employees to be the least of our worries,?but a survey carried out by WellNewMe and Dennis Ashely Medical Clinic shows that over 6,800 employees, between the ages of 20 and 60, from across Nigeria had a wide variety of mental health issues.?About 79% of the employees surveyed were at?an increased risk for mental health issues with no difference between either gender and A third of all the employees surveyed expressed an increased inability to cope with either at work or home?with women a more increased risk than men. Amidst the struggles for safer working conditions in Nigeria is the need to promote the mental health of employees by implementing measures to safeguard the Non-working hours from the prey of work. In the absence of a law setting the boundaries, trade unions in Nigeria are well positioned to inject this law into the system through collective bargaining and agreement with employing entities.

Given the support the right to disconnect has received in other countries, it will be interesting to see if this law is introduced, implemented and enforced in Nigeria. The benefits to the mental health of the labour force in Nigeria and if it opens the door for related lawsuits by employers and employees alike. Drawing the line between Labour and Privacy Rights is a viable safeguard of the work-life balance and mental health of workers in Nigeria

This need ?for?work-life balance and mental health at work was summarized by former ILO Director-General, Mr Guy Ryder in the following words:

“As people spend a large proportion of their lives in work – a safe and healthy working environment is critical. We need to invest to build a culture of prevention around mental health at work, reshape the work environment to stop stigma and social exclusion, and ensure employees with mental health conditions feel protected and supported,”

Christmas is here and the right to disconnect will be most invaluable to Nigerians, apart from the recognized exception of the provision of essential services and emergencies. Workers should enjoy a work-life balance and an ideal family life this Christmas and beyond.

In the absence of existing law addressing the right to disconnect in Nigeria, kindly share tips on how you navigate work and private life in Nigeria.

Kindly respond to this SURVEY for work-life balance in Nigeria, your response is a step in the right direction.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

References

F.J. Thomas- Workers' Compensation Daily Headlines- New Bill Would Prohibit Employers From Contacting Employees After Hours?13 April, 2024?

David Morel Need A Law To Stop Contacting Staff After Work Hours? Forbes Oct 1, 2024,

Countries where it is illegal for bosses to disturb employees after work hours, Timesofindia.com /?Feb 24, 2024,

2023 European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade, issued by the EU Commission, Parliament and Council (European Declaration, 2023).

The 2019 Nigeria Workplace Mental Health Survey by Obi-Igbokwe, 9th June, 2020- Employee Wellbeing , Mental Health

Guiding Principles on Implementing Workers’ Right to Disconnect, Report of the European Law Institute, October 2023.

Home Work Convention, 1996 (No. 177) and the Home Work Recommendation, 1996 (No. 184)?

Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999