Remote Work Laws: Working Hours & Right to Disconnect

I've scheduled meetings with European teams for years. You learn fast that sending a Slack message at 9 PM Paris time gets you radio silence — and possibly a lecture about French disconnect laws. Governments worldwide are scrambling to regulate remote work now that millions of people work from home permanently. France started the "right to disconnect" movement. Portugal went further and banned employers from contacting workers outside hours. If you're scheduling meetings across borders, you need to understand these rules.

This guide covers major remote work regulations and how they affect global team scheduling.

The Rise of Remote Work Legislation

Why Governments Started Acting

Remote work exploded. Traditional labor laws didn't cover it. Problems emerged:

Working hours blurred when home became the office. Always-on culture burned people out. Cross-border employment created legal confusion. Power imbalances meant employers could push flexible arrangements too far.

Regulators responded with laws protecting remote workers' time, privacy, and sanity. According to EU labor statistics, these protections vary dramatically by country.

The Legal Picture

As of 2026, remote work legislation varies dramatically by region:

| Region | Regulatory Approach | Key Focus |

|--------|-------------------|-----------|

| European Union | Strong worker protections | Disconnect, working hours, equipment |

| United States | Minimal federal rules | State-level variations |

| Latin America | Emerging regulations | Disconnect rights gaining traction |

| Asia-Pacific | Mixed approaches | Varies widely by country |

Right to Disconnect Laws by Country

France: The Pioneer

France introduced the right to disconnect in 2017—the first major economy to do so.

Key provisions:

• Companies with 50+ employees must negotiate disconnect policies
• Employees have the right to not respond to work communications outside work hours
• No specific penalties, but sets cultural expectations

Impact on scheduling:

• French employees may ignore after-hours meeting invites
• Companies must establish clear boundaries for international meetings
• Expect resistance to meetings before 9 AM or after 6 PM Paris time

Spain

Spain's 2021 remote work law includes robust disconnect provisions.

Key provisions:

• Explicit right to disconnect from digital devices
• Employers must create policies limiting out-of-hours contact
• Working time must be accurately recorded

Impact on scheduling:

• Spanish team members need clear work hours defined
• After-hours meetings require explicit consent
• Time tracking may be required for meeting attendance

Portugal

Portugal doesn't mess around. Their 2021 remote work law has teeth.

Key provisions:

• Employers can't contact workers outside work hours. Period. Penalties for violations.
• Companies must pay remote work expenses (internet, electricity, equipment).
• Workers' privacy and family time have explicit legal protection.

Impact on scheduling:

• Portuguese employees can legally tell you to pound sand if you schedule them at 8 PM.
• Don't schedule Portuguese team members outside 9 AM - 6 PM their time unless you want fines.
• This isn't a suggestion — it's enforceable law, as detailed in Portugal's labor code.

Italy

Italy's "smart working" regulations include disconnect rights.

Key provisions:

• Right to disconnect included in remote work agreements
• Work-life balance explicitly protected
• Specific disconnect times must be defined

Impact on scheduling:

• Italian workers may have contractually defined non-contact hours
• Check individual agreements before scheduling
• Expect push-back on weekend or evening meetings

Belgium

Belgium implemented comprehensive disconnect rules in 2022.

Key provisions:

• Companies with 20+ employees must adopt disconnect policies
• Right to disconnect during rest periods
• Training requirements on healthy digital practices

Impact on scheduling:

• Belgian team members have formal disconnect expectations
• Evening and weekend meetings may be problematic
• Companies must document policies

Germany

Germany has discussed but not enacted federal disconnect laws, though:

• Works councils can negotiate disconnect agreements
• Some companies have implemented policies unilaterally
• Cultural expectation of respecting personal time is strong

Impact on scheduling:

• German employees often expect boundaries even without laws
• Later evening meetings may face resistance
• Weekend work requires justification

Ireland

Ireland's Code of Practice (2021) establishes:

• Right to disconnect outside normal working hours
• Right to not be penalized for disconnecting
• Employer obligations to respect boundaries

Impact on scheduling:

• Irish workers have explicit expectations for disconnect time
• Evening meetings should be by agreement, not expectation
• Clear working hours should be defined

Working Hours Regulations

European Working Time Directive

EU-wide regulations set baseline standards:

• Maximum 48-hour work week (averaged over reference period)
• 11 consecutive hours daily rest
• 24 consecutive hours weekly rest
• Minimum 4 weeks paid annual leave

Impact on scheduling:

• Consecutive late-night meetings could violate rest requirements
• Excessive meeting loads affect working time calculations
• Holiday periods may have stricter limits

Country-Specific Working Hours

| Country | Standard Week | Lunch Break | Overtime Rules |

|---------|--------------|-------------|----------------|

| France | 35 hours | 20 min minimum | Strict compensation required |

| Germany | 40 hours | 30 min typical | Regulated by sector |

| Spain | 40 hours | 15 min minimum | Limited and compensated |

| UK | 48 hours max | 20 min if 6+ hours | Varies by contract |

| Japan | 40 hours | 45-60 min | "Karoshi" protections exist |

| Australia | 38 hours | Reasonable break | Award/agreement dependent |

United States: The Exception

The US has basically no federal protections for remote workers. None.

• No maximum hours for salaried exempt employees
• No federal right to disconnect
• No mandated breaks for adults (a few states have rules)
• At-will employment means employers can demand pretty much anything

Impact: American workers might have wildly different expectations than European colleagues. An American might think nothing of a 9 PM call. A French colleague would consider that hostile. This creates friction fast on global teams.

Scheduling Compliance Strategies

1. Know Your Team's Locations

Maintain an updated roster of where employees are legally based—not just where they happen to be working today.

| Employee | Legal Base | Key Restrictions |

|----------|-----------|------------------|

| Alice | France | Disconnect rights, 35h week |

| Bob | California | Meal break requirements |

| Carlos | Portugal | No employer contact outside hours |

| Diana | Singapore | Minimal restrictions |

2. Define Core Hours

Establish company-wide "core hours" when meetings can be scheduled without concern:

Example for US-EU team:

• Core hours: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM CET
• Outside core hours: By mutual agreement only

Use the Overlap Finder to identify core hours for your specific team.

3. Document Consent

For meetings outside normal hours:

• Get explicit agreement (email/message confirmation)
• Offer alternatives or recording for those who can't attend
• Don't make attendance implicitly mandatory

4. Respect Rest Periods

Avoid scheduling that violates rest requirements:

• No back-to-back days with late-night meetings for EU employees
• Check 11-hour daily rest isn't compromised
• Monitor cumulative meeting time weekly

5. Use Async When Possible

For non-urgent matters, asynchronous communication respects everyone's boundaries:

• Recorded video updates instead of live meetings
• Collaborative documents with comment threads
• Slack/Teams messages that don't expect immediate response

See our async vs sync communication guide for strategies.

The Compliance Challenge for Global Teams

Scenario: The All-Hands Meeting

Your company has employees in San Francisco, New York, London, Berlin, and Sydney.

Problem: No single time works for everyone during normal hours.

Compliant approaches:

1. Rotate meeting times to share the burden (see our guide)
2. Record all-hands meetings for async viewing
3. Run regional sessions at different times
4. Get explicit consent from those attending outside normal hours

Non-compliant approaches:

• Requiring EU employees to attend 5 AM meetings regularly
• Scheduling Sydney without consent for late-night calls
• Making attendance mandatory without alternatives

Scenario: The Urgent Client Call

A client in Japan wants a call at 9 AM Tokyo time—6 PM for your London team, 8 PM for your remote employee in Portugal.

Compliant approach:

• London team member attends (within working hours)
• Portuguese employee is offered the recording or given the choice
• If Portuguese employee agrees to attend, document consent
• Don't make this a regular occurrence

Tools for Compliant Scheduling

Time Zone Visualization

The Meeting Planner shows local times for all participants, making it easy to spot when someone would be attending outside normal hours.

Availability Mapping

The Availability Heatmap displays when team members' working hours overlap—and importantly, when they don't.

Calendar Integration

Use calendar apps that:

• Display multiple time zones
• Respect "working hours" settings
• Automatically decline out-of-hours invites

Building a Compliant Culture

Beyond legal requirements, sustainable remote teams build cultures that respect boundaries:

Leadership Modeling

Managers must demonstrate healthy practices:

• Don't send after-hours messages expecting responses
• Don't schedule meetings outside core hours without discussion
• Take time off visibly
• Acknowledge time zone sacrifices

Written Policies

Document clear expectations:

• Core meeting hours
• Expected response times
• Right to decline out-of-hours requests
• Compensation for exceptional requirements

Regular Review

Quarterly, assess:

• Are any team members consistently attending outside their normal hours?
• Is meeting load distributed fairly?
• Are disconnect policies being respected?

Summary

Europe leads on remote work protections. The US doesn't. This creates compliance headaches for global teams.

To stay compliant:

Know the laws in each employee's jurisdiction — not where they're working today, where they're legally based. Define core hours that respect everyone's working time. Document consent if someone attends outside their normal hours. Use async alternatives to reduce mandatory meeting times. Build culture that respects boundaries even when laws don't require it. People remember who burned them out.

Key regulations:

• France: Right to disconnect since 2017
• Portugal: Employers can't contact workers outside hours (with fines)
• Spain: Explicit disconnect rights plus time tracking
• EU-wide: 48-hour weekly max, 11-hour daily rest requirement

The Overlap Finder shows compliant meeting windows. The Meeting Planner displays everyone's local time so you're not accidentally scheduling someone at midnight.

Check our guides on time zone etiquette, remote team management, and avoiding burnout for sustainable practices.