PHL urged to consider ‘right to disconnect’ law

By Aubrey Rose A. Inosante, Reporter

CONGRESS is urged to consider a “right to disconnect” law, which would give a better work-life balance for Filipino workers, experts said.

However, some employers warn a law like the one that recently took effect in Australia could threaten productivity and reduce the Philippines’ attractiveness to investors.

“Like in France, Spain, Italy, and Australia, adopting a law on a right to disconnect would help protect workers’ mental health, promote their well-being, and reinforce the distinction between work and personal life, which is essential for overall productivity and job satisfaction,” Jose “Sonny” G. Matula, president at Federation of Free Workers told BusinessWorld via Viber Message on Sept. 4.

In Australia, the “right to disconnect” law took effect on Aug. 26 for non-small business employers and will start on Aug. 26, 2025 for small business employers.

Under the law, Australian workers can now legally ignore unreasonable after-hours work calls and e-mails. However, it does not ban employers from contacting their workers outside working hours but instead gives staff the right to refuse to monitor, read, or respond unless that refusal is unreasonable. Employers can also face fines of up to A$93,000 for contacting an employee for nonessential reasons outside of working hours.

In the Philippines, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez filed House Bill No. 9735, which institutionalizes an employee’s “right to disconnect” from work-related communications. The bill remains pending at the House committee level.

Mr. Rodriguez declined to comment on this story.

Mr. Matula said that if the Philippine Congress comes up with its own “right to disconnect” law, it should include specific provisions for jobs that require after-hours availability. It could include exemptions, overtime pay, or other compensatory mechanisms, such as on-call allowances or additional time off.

He said the law should address the different needs of sectors and strike a balance between protecting workers’ rights and meeting the operational requirements of certain industries.

However, Employers Confederation of the Philippines President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr. said a “right to disconnect” law in the Philippines could be a threat to productivity and strain employee-employer relationships.

“Investors would rather go to Indonesia, [or] to Thailand [instead]. They stay away from countries that have this kind of rule. It will add to the many problems in the Philippines for investors,” he told BusinessWorld over the phone on Sept. 4.

Annie Enriquez Geron, general secretary at the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation, said since workers’ pay is low and regionally determined, workers need to have part-time jobs to earn extra income.

“(If the law is enacted) it will deprive them from doing extra job. If the compensation and incentives are less than what they get from extra jobs, they are not likely to respond to calls and risk being penalized for not responding to calls,” she told BusinessWorld on Sept. 6 via an e-mailed statement.

Ms. Geron said there are challenges in implementing such a law in the Philippines. For instance, when would it be reasonable or unreasonable for an employer to contact a worker and for a worker to not respond, she said.

“There is a need to determine the compensation and benefits package as well as dispute settlement mechanisms must be well defined,” she said.

Meanwhile, Benjamin B. Velasco, assistant professor at the School of Labor and Industrial Relations in University of the Philippines Diliman, said the country has the Telecommuting Act that allows work-from-home subject to the applicability of existing labor laws such as an eight-hour day, which implies a right to disconnect.

“Still a specific right to disconnect law is needed to resolve any ambiguity and to extend protection to those whose work modality is working in an office but asked to do work-related tasks outside of normal hours,” Mr. Velasco added.

He also said that the right to disconnect should be looked at as a measure to protect workers.

“Studies show that in the absence of a right to disconnect, employees suffer from work-related stress as the boundaries of work and life are blurred or disappear,” Mr. Velasco said.

He also highlighted that the right to disconnect specifically protects working women, as they bear the burden of “reproductive work” at home after they have done their daily work.

“If employers find communicating with employees necessary outside of working hours regularly, they can have agreements with workers on work from home subject to an equivalent overtime pay if it’s beyond the normal eight hours,” Mr. Velasco said.

In 2024, The Philippines placed 59th out of 60 countries in the Global Life-Work Balance Index by global human resource platform Remote. It was the lowest among its peers in the East and Southeast Asian region.