Overview
- The draft grants employees the right to ignore work communications outside official hours or on holidays without disciplinary action.
- It would create an Employees’ Welfare Authority to confer the right, study after-hours digital use, and direct firms to negotiate out-of-hours terms.
- Companies with more than 10 workers would be required to set rules with staff representatives and pay overtime at the normal wage rate for agreed after-hours work.
- The proposal includes counselling services and digital detox centres, with non-compliance drawing a penalty equal to 1% of total employee remuneration.
- Introduced alongside other labour-welfare efforts such as Shashi Tharoor’s amendment to limit working hours and secure disconnection rights, the bill elevates the debate even as private member bills rarely become law.