The act aims to guarantee the effective enjoyment of free time and rest time, leave, leave and/or holidays to reconcile personal, family and working life through the right to disconnect from work.

This right begins once the working day is over and its exercise shall respond to the nature of the position, depending on whether it corresponds to the private or public sector.

According to the act, disconnection is defined as “the right of all workers and public servants to have no contact, by any means or tool, whether technological or not, for matters related to their field or work activity, at times outside the ordinary working day or maximum legal working day, or agreed, or during their holidays or breaks.” For its part, the employer shall refrain from issuing orders or other requirements to the worker outside the working day.

Are exempted from the provisions of the Law: 

1. Workers and public servers who hold positions of direction, trust, and management.
2. Workers who, due to the nature of the activity or function they perform, must have a permanent availability (public force and relief agencies).
3. Those situations of force majeure or fortuitous event, in which it is required to fulfil extra duties of collaboration with the company, when they are necessary for the continuity of the service or to solve difficult or urgent situations in the operation of the company, if it is justified that there is no other viable alternative.

Any clause or agreement that goes against the purpose of the law or impairs the guarantees regulated therein is ineffective. Likewise, failure to comply with the right to disconnect from work may constitute harassment at work, in the terms and in accordance with the provisions of Law 1010 of 2006.

The worker or public servant who believes that his or her right to work disconnection has been violated, may bring such a situation to the attention of the Labour Inspector or the Attorney General's Office with jurisdiction in the place of the facts.

All employers must implement an internally regulated labour disconnection policy for the disconnection from work, which will define at least:

- the way this right will be guaranteed and exercised, including guidelines on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs);

- a procedure that determines the mechanisms and means for workers or public servants to file complaints of violations of the right, either in their own name or anonymously;

- an internal procedure for the processing of such complaints, including due process and mechanisms for the resolution of grievances and verification of compliance with agreements reached and the cessation of the conduct.

The right to disconnection from work, according to Article 2 of the law, shall be guided by constitutional principles in the terms corresponding to the right to work, the conventions ratified by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and all related regulations.

The right to disconnection is an increasingly debated issue in the light of the widespread use of remote work in the pandemic period. The Colombian law follows similar measures in Mexico, Argentina, and Uruguay. In Europe, the EU Parliament resolution considers the right to disconnect as “a fundamental right which is an inseparable part of the new working patterns in the new digital era” and “an important social policy instrument at Union level to ensure protection of the rights of all workers,”. As we previously reported, Portugal has recently enacted a law on the subject.