12% of employees feel pressure to remain contactable after working hours or during holidays, according to a survey by the workplace protection agency IDEWE.
Nevertheless, the survey shows that the pressure to remain contactable appears to be waning since the law on the right to disconnect came into force in 2023. With this law, companies with more than 20 employees cannot expect their staff to be available out of their working hours. Thus, in theory, they cannot reach out to them during those moments.
The work agency surveyed 126,956 employees between 2020 and 2023 on the pressure felt to be contacted outside of their working hours. This pressure is defined in the survey as "my direct line manager expects me to answer work-related messages in my free time."
Compared with previous years, the pressure felt is slightly down, notes IDEWE. In 2020, some 14.3% felt pressure to be reachable; in 2023, the figure was 12.3%. "The legislation already seems to bring about change. The statistics for 2024 confirm this trend, but these are still provisional figures," stated Rosanne Volckaert, psychosocial prevention consultant at IDEWE.
Effect on wellbeing
Workers who find it difficult to disconnect outside of work because of the pressure of being contacted are significantly less satisfied at work. Figures show that 73% of workers subject to this pressure are satisfied compared to 82% of those without pressure. Moreover, those who feel this pressure are less willing to stay in their company (63% vs. 70%) and feel considerably more stress (40% vs. 26%) and exhaustion (44% vs. 30%).
Consequently, they are more exposed to the risk of burnout (26% versus 15%) and absenteeism due to work-related psychosocial problems (19% versus 10%).
In addition, the work agency looked into whether there were some positions more likely to create this pressure of being reachable. This seems to be the case of line managers, and especially their own managers: 22.9% of those higher-ranking managers feel this pressure, compared to 15% of line managers and 14% of employees.
"For these positions, disconnecting is more difficult or at least different," said Rosanne Volckaert. "They're more expected to be contactable; it's part of their job. It's often difficult to completely disconnect from work after hours, especially in companies where working hours are irregular and international collaboration is required. This is especially true for positions of responsibility."
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Those results show that as an employer, "you have absolutely no interest in putting pressure" on your staff to stay reachable, argues Lode Godderis, CEO of IDEWE and Professor of Occupational Medicine at the KU Leuven. "I sincerely hope that the right to disconnect will achieve its objectives."
But given the effects of the problem, it is important that employers go beyond this law and "really work on a policy that will benefit everyone," he adds. Clear rules for employees and line managers on being contactable are necessary, both in the evenings after work and during holidays, Godderis highlighted.
IDEWE concluded by the role that employees could also play in helping each other to disconnect. It is advised, for instance, to reach an agreement on defining what could be considered "urgent" and the "reasons" that may require contacting a colleague out of his office hours.
