Right to Disconnect - What Irish Employers Need to Do Now to Stay Compliant

The Right to Disconnect is no longer something employers can treat as background guidance. Across Ireland, it is becoming part of a broader shift in how organisations are being assessed; not just on policy, but on how work happens in practice. For many employers, that reality is becoming harder to ignore. 

The latest SD Worx HR and Payroll Pulse data makes that clear. Workforce planning has moved to the centre of operations, with 60% of organisations surveyed in Ireland treating it as a critical priority. At the same time, 45% of employers report experiencing compliance issues in the past year, while 43% of employees say they are dissatisfied with their work-life balance. 

Taken together, these are not stand-alone challenges. They point to something more fundamental: pressure on how work is structured and managed. The Right To Disconnect is a tangible delivery of this discontent and need for regulation. 

The Right to Disconnect is a workplace principle set out in Ireland’s Code of Practice that gives employees the ability to switch off from work outside their normal working hours without facing negative consequences. In practice, it means employees are not expected to routinely engage with emails, calls or messages once their working day ends, and equally, they are protected from being penalised if they choose not to respond. For employers, it goes further than simply allowing people to log off. It creates an obligation to define clear expectations around working time, ensure those expectations are applied consistently, and actively support a culture where boundaries are respected across the organisation. 

The legal status of the Right to Disconnect has not changed. It remains a Code of Practice rather than primary legislation - but for employers, the risk profile has shifted. 

The Code is increasingly being used as a reference point in disputes involving working time, wellbeing and workplace stress. In those situations, the focus is not on whether a policy exists, but whether an organisation can demonstrate that it is actively managing working time in a compliant and sustainable way. 

The wider compliance picture reinforces this. The SD Worx HR and Payroll Pulse 2026 shows that nearly half of employers in Ireland have already encountered payroll or compliance issues in the last 12 months.  That signals something important. Risk is not emerging from isolated failures. It is building quietly where processes, behaviours and expectations fall out of alignment. 

Most organisations have taken steps to respond. Policies have been introduced. Expectations have been communicated. 

But employee experience suggests a different reality. 

According to the latest data from the HR and Payroll Pulse, almost one in four employees are dissatisfied overall, and dissatisfaction with work-life balance rises to 43%. For employers, that gap matters. It indicates that the boundaries set in policy are not always reflected in day-to-day working patterns. Work continues to extend beyond expected hours, and in many cases, that extension has become normalised. 

From a compliance perspective, that creates exposure. When expectations are unclear or inconsistently applied, it becomes difficult to evidence that working time is being properly managed. 

The Right to Disconnect is often framed as a cultural issue. In practice, it is an operational one. 

Organisations that struggle with disconnect are rarely lacking intent. The challenge is visibility and control. Hybrid working has reduced day-to-day oversight, while workload pressures have made it harder to contain work within defined hours. 

This is where the connection to workforce planning becomes critical. With our research showing that more than 60% of organisations identifying it as a high or critical priority, employers are already recognising that capacity, scheduling and workload management are now central to both performance and compliance.  

When work is not planned realistically, it does not stay within contracted hours. It spills into evenings and weekends, regardless of policy. 

At that point, the issue is no longer behavioural. It is structural. 

See also: Remote & Hybrid Working in Ireland | Legal Obligations 2026 | SD Worx

The implications are not limited to compliance. 

The same conditions that create Right to Disconnect risk are also driving wider business impact. Sustained pressure on working hours is closely linked to dissatisfaction, reduced engagement and increased turnover. 

This shift is also reflected in the wider policy landscape. A recent review of Ireland’s remote working legislation confirmed that while the framework is functioning, an updated Code of Practice is now being developed - signalling clearer expectations for how organisations manage flexible work in practice. 

The Pulse data makes this visible. With 43% of employees already unhappy with their work-life balance, the strain is not theoretical - it is already embedded in how work is experienced. 

For employers, this creates a dual challenge. The Right to Disconnect must be managed both as a regulatory expectation and as a core part of maintaining performance.

Organisations that are making progress are approaching the issue differently. Instead of treating the Right to Disconnect as a standalone policy, they are integrating it into how work is designed and managed across the organisation. 

That shift starts with clarity. Employers need to define what working time actually looks like in practice, including how and when communication happens, and what constitutes a reasonable expectation outside core hours. 

This extends to management behaviour. Teams take their cues from leaders, and where those signals are inconsistent, policy quickly loses impact. 

Most critically, it requires a closer look at workload. If employees cannot complete their responsibilities within standard hours, the risk does not sit with the employee. It sits with how work has been structured. 

Finally, there is the question of visibility. In a hybrid environment, employers need sufficient insight into working patterns to identify where issues are emerging. Without that, risks remain hidden until they escalate into complaints or disputes.

At SD Worx, we see this as part of a wider transformation in how work is managed. 

As flexibility increases, so does complexity. Employers are balancing evolving ways of working with stricter compliance expectations and reduced visibility. 

Our role is to help bring clarity to that environment. Connecting workforce planning, working time, payroll and compliance so organisations can see how work is actually happening - and act on it with confidence.