Workplace Relations (Right to Disconnect)

Ireland Employment HR Right to Disconnect WRC Work-life balance

Overview

Draft internal Right to Disconnect policies and employee handbook sections for Ireland, aligned with the WRC Code of Practice (2021/2024). Includes audit of emergency-contact clauses to reduce WRC complaint risk.

Example

You: We’re a remote-first company in Ireland. Draft a Right to Disconnect policy for our handbook and make sure we’re not asking people to be contactable 24/7.
Agent: I’ll draft a policy aligned with the WRC Code of Practice. (Uses the three elements: right not to work routinely outside normal hours, right not to be penalised, duty to respect others’ right to disconnect. Defines normal working hours and limits out-of-hours contact to genuine emergencies or exceptional circumstances.) Saving as right_to_disconnect_policy.md. Running the emergency-contact audit on it now.
emergency_contact_clause_audit: No obviously broad emergency-contact or 24/7 availability clauses detected. The policy includes narrowing language (genuine emergency, exceptional circumstances) and defines normal working hours. You can add it to your handbook and point staff to the grievance procedure if they have concerns.

Excerpt of a generated policy

The agent produces a policy document aligned with the WRC Code. Below is a condensed example of core sections:

## Right to Disconnect

### 1. Our commitment

We respect your right to disconnect. You are not required to routinely perform work or attend to work communications outside your normal working hours, and you will not be penalised for refusing to do so. We expect everyone to respect each other’s right to disconnect by not routinely contacting colleagues outside their normal working hours.

### 2. Normal working hours

Your normal working hours are as set out in your contract. For flexible/remote workers, agreed core hours and any on-call arrangements will be documented separately and must not amount to routine availability outside those times.

### 3. Contact outside normal hours

Contact outside normal working hours may occur only in **genuine emergencies** or **exceptional circumstances** (e.g. critical operational need, safety incident). Such contact will be the exception, not the rule. If you are contacted outside hours in a way you believe is not justified, you may raise this through the grievance procedure.

### 4. Complaints

Unresolved concerns can be raised under our Grievance Policy. The WRC Code is admissible in proceedings before the Workplace Relations Commission, Labour Court, or courts where relevant to working time or employment terms.

Extension tool

emergency_contact_clause_audit

Scans a policy or handbook draft for phrases that suggest routine contactability outside normal hours and could attract WRC scrutiny under the Right to Disconnect Code.

What it flags	Examples of broad phrasing
Obligation to be contactable	“Emergency contact at all times”, “contactable outside working hours”, “available 24/7”
Required availability	“Must remain contactable outside hours”, “required to respond to calls promptly”
Unbounded emergency contact	“Provide an emergency contact number” without limiting to genuine emergencies
Vague on-call	“On call for all purposes” without clear limits or definition of exceptional need

The tool also checks whether the document contains narrowing language (e.g. “genuine emergency”, “exceptional circumstances”, “right to disconnect”, “normal working hours”). If it finds broad phrases but no narrowing language, it recommends adding scope and pointing to the WRC Code reference. Use it after drafting or revising any policy or handbook section that mentions emergency contact or availability.

Getting Started

Add your source materials (existing handbook, working hours definitions) to the project workspace, then activate the Workplace Relations (Right to Disconnect) skill. The agent will draft or revise the policy, run the audit, and suggest changes to align with the WRC Code.