The right to disconnect in Ireland
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Employees in Ireland have a legal right to disconnect from work outside their contracted hours. The Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect, introduced in April 2021, sets out what this means in practice for both employers and employees.
What the right to disconnect actually covers
The Code of Practice, issued by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), establishes three core rights for employees:
- The right not to routinely perform work outside normal working hours
- The right not to be penalised for refusing to attend to work matters outside normal hours
- The right to disconnect from work-related technology
This is not a blanket ban on all out-of-hours contact. It is a framework that requires employers to be reasonable and to put clear expectations in writing. The Code applies to all employees, including remote workers, and all employers regardless of size.
What employers are required to do
The Code does not create an automatic legal entitlement in the same way the Working Time Act does. It is a statutory code of practice, which means a breach of it is not itself an offence, but it can be used as evidence in WRC hearings on related complaints — such as unfair dismissal or penalisation claims.
Practically, employers are expected to:
Have a written policy. Your employee handbook or remote working policy should state clearly what the expectations are around out-of-hours contact, who can be contacted and in what circumstances, and how urgent situations are handled.
Avoid a culture of constant availability. Sending emails at midnight and expecting a reply the next morning at 8am creates implicit pressure, even if you never say the reply is required immediately. This is the behaviour the Code is designed to address.
Not penalise employees who disconnect. If an employee does not respond to a message sent at 11pm and faces negative consequences as a result — being overlooked for a project, receiving a poor review, being excluded from communications — that could constitute penalisation.
Apply the policy consistently. A policy that exists on paper but is ignored in practice offers little protection to either party.
When out-of-hours contact is still legitimate
The Code acknowledges that certain roles and certain situations will involve a degree of out-of-hours contact. There is no one-size-fits-all rule.
Sectors such as healthcare, emergency services, and some customer-facing roles may have a genuine operational requirement for out-of-hours availability. Where this is the case, it should be reflected in the employment contract and compensated appropriately.
The key question is whether out-of-hours contact is routine or exceptional. Occasional urgent contact — a genuine crisis, a significant client issue that cannot wait — is different from a manager who habitually sends messages in the evening and expects responses before the working day begins.
Employees also have some flexibility here. Some individuals prefer to check emails in the evening or work across split hours. The right to disconnect protects employees from being required or pressured to do so — it does not prevent someone who genuinely chooses to work outside standard hours from doing so.
Remote and hybrid workers
The right to disconnect is particularly relevant for remote workers, where the boundary between work and home can blur easily. The WRC's Code specifically calls this out, noting that remote working can make it harder to switch off.
If your business has employees working remotely — whether full-time or on a hybrid arrangement — your right to disconnect policy should address:
- Whether core hours are set and what they are
- How communication during those hours is expected to work
- What, if anything, is expected outside those hours in exceptional circumstances
- How managers set an example on this
A good test: if a manager sends a late-night message prefaced with "no need to reply until tomorrow," is that actually the culture in practice, or is there an unspoken expectation of an immediate response?
The overlap with working time rules
Ireland's working time rules under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 set minimum rest requirements — including daily rest of 11 consecutive hours and weekly rest of 24 consecutive hours. These statutory minimums exist independently of the right to disconnect Code.
If out-of-hours work becomes routine, there is a risk that rest period entitlements are being breached. Employers should be aware that monitoring working time — including any additional hours worked outside normal schedules — is a legal obligation, not just good practice. Statutory annual leave entitlement is 4 working weeks, and any erosion of genuine rest time can affect how leave entitlements are calculated.
Putting a policy in place
A right to disconnect policy does not need to be lengthy. It should clearly state expectations, name a point of contact for questions, and be reviewed when working arrangements change. It should sit alongside — not in isolation from — your remote working policy, performance management framework, and contracts of employment.
Where roles genuinely require some out-of-hours availability, that should be documented and, where appropriate, reflected in compensation or time off in lieu. Ambiguity tends to create the exact pressure the Code is trying to prevent.
---
Run HR and payroll in Ireland with Mellow
Mellow brings HR, payroll and 12 AI agents into one platform — built to handle Ireland properly, with payroll included, from £4 per employee per month. The AI agents don't just answer questions; they generate contracts, run cost estimates and draft letters for you.
[Start a free trial →](/register)