The EU might finally enshrine a person’s right to disconnect, whether that’s emails or messages, during non-work hours, and it’s all thanks to one Maltese MEP.

Newly-elected Alex Agius Saliba announced on social media that the European Parliament approved his recommendation, and will now form part of a report on employment and social policies.

“When I started talking about this right during my campaign, this was a quasi-taboo, and after yesterday’s vote, my text has become an official recommendation of the European Parliament. This is the first step but a vital one in order to continue pushing for concrete measures on the right to digitally disconnect,” Agius Saliba said.

During a plenary session on the subject in September, Aguis Saliba said:

“I believe that there is a growing need to establish “the right to digitally disconnect” in order to create the much-needed boundary between work, home and private life and provide the quality of work-life balance employees deserve and need.”

The right to disconnect was also recently flagged by the President of the Union of Professional Educators, Graham Sansone, who detailed how educators were being made to work above their official hours, during summer months in particular, by being sent emails and messages.

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