The right to disconnect has been in place at Post since 2021, two years before a Luxembourg law was passed, that will soon come into force. Post was the only outfit among the country’s three largest employers to clearly state its policy. Photos: Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne/Archives; Montage: Maison Moderne

The right to disconnect has been in place at Post since 2021, two years before a Luxembourg law was passed, that will soon come into force. Post was the only outfit among the country’s three largest employers to clearly state its policy. Photos: Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne/Archives; Montage: Maison Moderne

Post has taken the lead on the right to disconnect. The group incorporated it into its collective work agreement in 2021. Delano’s sister publication Paperjam asked the country’s top three employers (in terms of headcount) about this issue. The CFL is working on the subject and Cactus declined to comment.

The right to disconnect is coming into force. The law, published in the Journal Officiel on 30 June, .

What are the plans of the three companies with the most employees in Luxembourg , as at 1 January 2022)? Paperjam asked them. Only Post--with 4,540 employees--took a clear position.

“We incorporated the right to disconnect into our collective agreement in 2021,” Post stated. “Several measures have followed: dedicated training, a summary of information on infobesity and hyperconnection and a guide to good practice.” The guide says, for example: “I only send my emails to the people concerned” and “I use an alarm clock instead of my smartphone”.

Céline Conter of the LCGB  trade union confirmed that the collective work agreement contains a “substantial chapter” on the right to disconnect. “First and foremost, managers are made accountable. So that they respect working hours and avoid contacting employees at weekends or during holidays. Even if they don’t expect a reply, they should postpone sending it. To protect those who might be tempted to look at their phone in their spare time”. Exceptions exist for on-call duty. “Another example is the ban on organising meetings outside the 9am-6pm time slot.” Are these rules respected? “I haven’t had any complaints on this subject,” said Conter.

CFL: in progress

Rail operator CFL group, the country’s number 1 employer with 4,710 employees, said it is “working on it”. The FNCTTFEL-Landesverband railways union refused to comment. Paul Glouchitski, LCGB transport secretary, spoke for “CFL Multimodal and Cargo. We are not represented at parent company level”.

CFL Multimodal’s collective work agreement expires in January 2024. “We are going to renegotiate it and incorporate the right to disconnect. For CFL Cargo, we would like to propose a rider to add it to the agreement before it expires, which will be in 2025.” The subject “is very important for employees who have IT tools”, said Glouchitski. “Administrative” staff represent less than 30% of the workforce in both sectors, he stated. And the reality? “Not a single employee has come back to me to say that their manager is forcing them to answer the phone outside of normal working hours. We have a serious employer. In general, CFL respects employees’ right to work their own hours.”

Cactus: informal reality

The retail group Cactus--with 4,440 employees--declined to comment. “On the ground, it’s already a given", according to LCGB trade secretary Tiago Afonso. “It’s not a problem in the retail sector. Everyone has their own timetable. There are other places where the right to disconnect is more complicated, such as the financial sector.” The union has reminded employees that “if they receive an email at the weekend, they are not obliged to reply. If they are faced with this problem, they can tell us and we will contact management.”

Read the original French version of this article on the site

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