Why Right to Disconnect Bill 2025 is making waves: No calls or e-mails after working hours, digital detox centres & more

NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule

Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule has introduced a private member's bill in the House aimed at promoting work-life balance for workers. Seeking to protect employees’ non-working hours, 'The Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025' proposes a legal right to refuse work calls, messages, and e-mails beyond designated working times and on holidays.

It was introduced by the Lok Sabha member during the winter session of Parliament that began on December 1.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule introduced ‘The Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025’ which proposes to establish an employees' welfare authority to confer the right on every employee to disconnect from work-related telephone calls and e-mails beyond work hours and on holidays.

The bill seeks to ensure that workers are not obligated respond to any work-related electronic communication after working hours or on holidays.

Sharing a video on X, Sule said, the bill 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,” she wrote.

"Studies have found that if an employee is expected to be available round the clock, they tend to exhibit risks of over-work like sleep deprivation, developing stress and being emotionally exhausted. This persistent urge to respond to calls and emails (termed as 'telepressure'), constant checking of emails throughout the day, and even on weekends and holidays, is reported to have destroyed the work-life balance of employees," the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill read.

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

The Bill argued that there is a need to respect the personal space of the employees by recognising their right to disconnect and not respond to their employer's calls, e-mails etc, during out-of-work hours.

"The need is also to recognise the rights of the employees, it also takes into consideration the competitive needs of the companies and their diverse work cultures. Flexibility in the right to disconnect rules and leaves it to the individual companies to negotiate terms of service with their employees is need of the hour," the statement further read.

The digital transformation has direct impact on conditions in the employment contract, like the time and the place of work.

Hence if an employee agrees to works during out-of-work hours, overtime pay at the same rate as his wage rate is also necessary to check the surge in unpaid overtime work, brought about by digital transformation, she argued in the Bill.

The Bill also provides for counselling services to increase awareness among employees and citizens, on reasonable use of digital and communication tools, for professional and personal use.

To free an employee from digital distractions and enable him to truly connect with the people around him, the Bill provides for digital detox centres.

"The Bill thus champions for the rights and welfare of employees, by mandating individual entities to negotiate out-of-hour service conditions with their employees, and upholding the right of employee to disconnect. The Bill seeks to recognise right to disconnect as a way to reduce stress and ease tension between an employees' personal and professional life," the Bill concluded.

The Right to Disconnect Bill falls under the category of private member’s bills, which are introduced by a Parliament member who is not a minister.

Historically, very few private member bills are enacted in India, with most being debated and eventually withdrawn once the government responds.