The legal nature and the place of the right to disconnect in european and in russian labour law

Abstract

The first part of this article is devoted to the legislative proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the right to disconnect that was adopted on 21 January 2021 in the European Parliament Resolution. In this part of the article the legal nature of the “right to disconnect,” the personal and material scope of this right as well as the relationship to other (fundamental) labour rights and different aspects of the employment relationship are analysed. Furthermore, the author discloses the gaps of the legislative proposal and makes some suggestions concerning a new concept of working conditions. The second part of the article focuses on Russian labour law. During the process of reforming the legislation on remote work it was widely discussed whether “a right to disconnect” should be provided for in the Russian Labour Code. The author analyses problems with the organisation of working time concerning the application of a special working regime entitled “unregular working day” and the recording of working time. Furthermore, the perspectives of the application of self-protection of labour rights as a way to guarantee the right to disconnect are examined. The conclusion stresses which measures would be necessary for an effective execution and enforcement of the right to disconnect.