Right to Disconnect: During the winter season, Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) introduced the “Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025” on December 5, 2025. The bill aims to legally shield employees from work-related emails, calls or messages on holidays or after office hours.
The bill addresses significant burnout that is regularly and intensely faced by the hyper-connected workforce of India, where digital tools have erased boundaries between professional and personal life. If the Right to Disconnect Bill gets passed, it would mark a considerable shift toward protecting mental health of Indian employees amid long working hours that often plague sectors such as IT, finance and marketing.
Key Provisions
The Right to Disconnect Bill proposes creating an Employees’ Welfare Authority that would enforce the “right to disconnect”, monitor compliance and compensate extra work at normal wage rates. It will also provide counselling and digital detox centres in partnership with the government. Non-compliant firms face penalties of 1% of total employee remuneration, ensuring accountability, transparency and fairness without crippling businesses.
Potential Impact
Proponents of the Right to Disconnect bill hail it as landmark and essential for essential for maintaining a smooth work-life balance. The Right to Disconnect bill echoes global trends in countries like France. A 2024 Indeed Survey revealed that 79 percent of Indian employees support such employee-centric policies, highlighting consensus in curbing unpaid overtime. Critics, on the other hand, said the Right to Disconnect bill could possibly hinder the 24/7 economy of India, especially for client-facing roles in event management or digital marketing.
Will Parliament prioritize employee welfare over economic competitiveness? What do you think?