The demarcation line between the work and non-work domains, however blurred at times it may appear to be, puts pressure on most workers to find an equilibrium between the two domains.
The struggle to cope adequately with the dual demands of home and work is subsumed under the metaphor of balance. To the two-earner family, which has become the norm, this balancing act may turn out to be a highly strenuous daily exercise. Indeed, in trying to reconcile work commitments with family obligations, the members of the dual worker families may feel squeezed between the two, leaving little time to devote to their personal and social needs.
Remote working from home, which with the onset of COVID-19 has become the epitome of digitalisation at the world of work, tends to attenuate the inherent stress of this juggling exercise. Even saving the time and effort spent in travelling between home and work may enable the workers to cope better with the exigences of their family.
These new work practices, introduced with the onset of COVID-19 in various sectors of the economy, have exposed a number of workers to the forces shaping the digital revolution at the place of work. This technological change entails an overall connectivity without the need of proximity. By blurring the distinction between work, home and household chores, the digital economy can allow workers greater freedom and a relatively higher degree of flexibility to perform their duties.
The digital economy may have enhanced the corporate culture that supports the values of an ideal work-life balance
On the converse side, the absence of a regularised system embodying a standardised work time schedule that provides a clear boundary between work and non-work domains may make some workers feel rudderless and frustrated. The right to disconnect, aimed at establishing clear boundaries of work and non-work domains is aimed at mitigating this frustration.
This sense of frustration is exacerbated by a fear that a highly deregulated work environment may in the long run imperceptibly shift towards a 24/7 society that would put pressure on employees to work round the clock. The European parliament has already acted upon this fear and called on the Commission to propose a law that would enable those who work remotely from home to disconnect outside office hours. The 472 MEPs who voted in favour of this proposal consider this right to disconnect a fundamental right.
Initiatives to address this issue are being taken by some countries. Ireland has been the first country to issue a code meant to preserve the work-life balance and protect the workers who have to work remotely from home. The Trade Union Council in UK has advocated the government to implement similar measures. The overall aim is to guard against the worst possible scenario, where due to the mismanagement of the measures introduced to cope with the adverse effects of the pandemic, the initiatives might compromise some of the flexibility workers have recently been able to negotiate.
The Maltese government, through Minister Carmelo Abela, in November 2020 expressed its willingness to speed up the process that would put a legislative framework on remote working. Alex Agius Saliba, a Maltese member of the European Parliament, piloted an initiative in the European Parliament to push the European Commission to introduce a directive on this matter.
In its reaction to these initiatives, the Malta Employers Association (MEA) has advocated a cautious approach, stating that there is no rational reason to rush this process. Indeed, it advised the Maltese government not to act impulsively and serve as a guinea pig to other countries.
The Malta Chamber of Commerce and Industry more or less adopted a similar approach by pleading for the creation of space for dialogue aimed at finding flexible solutions. The General Workers Union and UĦM, Voice of the Workers, though refraining to show enthusiasm about any measures which the Maltese government may envision to take in order to jump-start the process at EU level, contend that this issue of the right to disconnect should be resolved by enhancing the principles and values governing the good practices of an ideal work-life balance.
What the foregoing implies is that in adapting to the new demands of this digitalised world of work, we need to rethink the social and economic priorities. In other words, we have to find realistic ways to make rules that are commensurate with a newly-flexible organisation of work.
It is within such a context that the issue of the work-life balance has to be viewed. The perception of time plays an important part in the individual relationship between work and non-work domains. It can depend on the leeway their working time arrangements give them and how it can be utilised to satisfy the multiplicity of needs.
The family-friendly measures being proposed in the EU Commission directive about the extension of paternity leave and the introduction of new rights related to flexible arrangements may go a long way in providing some of the leeway when and where it is mostly needed in the family household.
Paradoxically, the digital economy may have enhanced the corporate culture that supports the values of an ideal work-life balance. It looks as if this issue is likely to be one of the platforms featuring prominently in the electoral manifesto of the Maltese political parties which are contesting the general election due to held next year.
Saviour Rizzo is the former director of the Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Malta.