Managing the Right to Disconnect—A Scoping Review

Abstract

In recent years, several countries have introduced ‘right to disconnect’ laws to protect workers’ rest times, giving workers legal rights to disconnect from work-related communication outside normal working hours. This is a response to growing concerns for the digital wellbeing of workers, the state of hyperconnectivity created by today’s digital technologies, and how it can result in constant connectivity to work. The aim of this paper is to review the existing academic literature available on this topic, in order to identify key themes and potential research gaps relating to the right to disconnect and derive practical implications for managers needing to adopt this policy. Using the scoping review method and keywords ‘right to disconnect’, n = 9966 records were retrieved from the databases APA PsycNet, EBSCOhost, Emerald Insight, Gale, ProQuest Central, Scopus, and Web of Science, from which a final sample of n = 21 journal articles from n = 15 different countries were eligible for analysis. These articles were found to primarily span three academic disciplines: law, health, and business. Four key themes were highlighted—work–life balance, scope, governance, and health and wellbeing—as being critical factors for the successful implementation of the right to disconnect, as a sustainable digital wellbeing initiative for employees.