70% of MEPs approve MEP Agius Saliba’s report on Right to Disconnect

Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba's report on the Right to Disconnect has been approved by the great majority of the Members of the European Parliament this week.

The Right to Disconnect is a worker's right to be able to disconnect from work and refrain from engaging in workrelated electronic communications, such as emails or other messages, during non-work hours. The MEP's report received 472 votes in favour; 70% of the MEPs votes.

In a live video on Facebook, Agius Saliba sounded his joy over the "historic moment" in the European parliament, as his report was approved a few minutes earlier.

This comes after a report he conducted showed that "30% of people who are working from home said that they are working during times when they should be off from work."

"I have been working on this since before I was elected as a membeer of the European Parliament," he remarked. "We worked with diverse European groups in order to get this vote."

The win is one for all Maltese and Europeans, he said, so that workers can enjoy their time off. "It cannot be that our workers continue being treated as if they are robots, and not being given their fundamental rights."

"In your free time, you should enjoy it with your family and your loved ones. No one should trample over this right."

The MEP said that such abuse by employers should not happen, and if it does, the employee should be compensated.

Talking about the next steps ahead, Agius Saliba remarked that the pressure is now in the hands of the European Commission, so that the legislation that he wrote and negotiated comes into fruition. He said that it is now up to Nicolas Schmit, who is the European Commisioner for Jobs and Social Rights, to establish these new laws.