News

Our National Focal Point in Spain (The National Institute for Safety and Health at Work) has launched an initiative to promote digital disconnection and protect the wellbeing of workers, which strongly aligns with the current edition of the Healthy Workplaces Campaign ‘Safe and healthy work in the digital age’.

The nationwide campaign entitled ‘Outside the working day, press off to be on’ aims to inform about the right to digital disconnection outside working hours and raise awareness about preventive measures to combat the negative effects that technological overexposure and permanent connectivity, often driven by the use of digital devices, may have on workers' mental, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health.

The digital transformation of the economy and the modern workplace has dramatically altered working conditions, reshaping labour relations and intensifying certain risk factors, primarily of ergonomic and psychosocial nature. Recognising these shifts, the campaign emphasises the need for all organisations, both public and private, to uphold the right to disconnect as stipulated by several regulations in Spain (The Organic Law 3/2018 of 5 December on Protection of Personal Data and Guarantee of Digital Rights and Law 10/2021 of 9 July on remote working). This ensures workers' rest, personal and family privacy, work-life balance, and effective protection of safety and health standards.     

The campaign underscores the obligations that employers, with managers and supervisors playing crucial roles, must maintain to effectively foster a healthier and more balanced digitalised workplace. These encompass developing internal digital disconnection policies and consulting with workers or their representatives in the process, establishing concrete measures to promote digital disconnection, implementing availability rules for jobs requiring constant connectivity, and providing training and awareness-raising actions to inform their workforce about the risks of hyperconnectivity and their management.  

For more information and resources surrounding the initiative, including supporting documents, videos, social media material and legal references, visit the official campaign website.