“It has been observed that with the onset of remote working, employers have been relying on digital connectivity to communicate with their employees and vice-versa. However, due to the ease of accessibility, the boundary between working hours and private rest is becoming less apparent with some employers expecting employees to handle work-related matters past contractual working hours,” the firm says. Some employees have their working hours within their sign-off messages and signatures while others encourage colleagues to disconnect by indicating no obligation to provide a same-day response to emails sent outside working hours. As such, employers might still allocate working hours earlier or later than the perceived normal working hours to go around the penalties if the Bill becomes law as it is. “Out of work hours means hours other than the hours of work agreed upon between an employer and an employee in the contract of employment,” the Bill reads in part.

Source: Standard Digital March 29, 2022 23:54 UTC