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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH IN COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT & SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJARCMSS) [ Vol. 9 | No. 2 (I) | April - June, 2026 ]

Right to Disconnect: Employee Well-being and Legal Awareness in the Digital Workplace

Ms. Shubhangi Nirwan

Digital communication technologies have expanded their reach into modern workplaces because this technology provides employees with constant access to their work through emails and messaging applications and virtual meetings and remote working platforms. Digitalization provides organizations with better operational performance and flexible work processes but creates challenges for employees who need to separate their work duties from their personal life activities. The ongoing ability to stay connected with work has resulted in increased work-related stress and burnout and mental exhaustion and psychological pressure which employees experience. The "Right to Disconnect" serves as a crucial legal and organizational framework that protects employees who want to stop receiving work messages during their non-working hours from facing any disciplinary action. The present study examines employee well-being and legal awareness regarding the Right to Disconnect in the digital workplace. The research investigates how excessive digital working hours affect employees' ability to balance their personal and professional lives and their knowledge about their legal employment rights. The study further examines how organizational culture and employer demands impact employees' work activities during their non-working hours. A descriptive research design was adopted, and data were collected from employees working in corporate, educational, and service sectors through structured questionnaires and secondary sources. The research shows that excessive digital connectivity results in negative effects on employee mental health and family responsibilities and work performance. Employees from various organizations showed that they experienced work-related stress because they needed to communicate with others during times outside their designated work hours. The research found that people who worked in office environments showed low understanding about their legal rights and office policies which explained digital disconnection. The study found that organizations without official digital communication rules experienced increased employee dissatisfaction and burnout symptoms. The research shows that organizations need to develop legal regulations which require them to protect employee health in workplaces that use digital technology. The organization should develop workplace communication standards which include employee training programs and work-life balance initiatives. The study concludes that recognizing the Right to Disconnect is essential for promoting employee mental health, improving productivity, and ensuring sustainable digital work culture in modern organizations.

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