KEVIN ASLEY M. LAGMAY
DIVINE WORD COLLEGE OF LAOAG
Abstract
The central theme of this article is to give insights of whether employees should disconnect from work-related communications when they are going on scheduled leave. This article also suggests work-life balance frameworks that will help individuals and organizations in prioritizing well-being together with productivity. The article will also cite laws and regulations that were adopted by the other nation, such as “The Right to Disconnect” by the French Government and “The Worker's Rest Law” proposed by Sen. Francis Tolentino to the Senate of the Philippines, which protects the rights of workers to personal time and promotes their welfare
Keywords
Work-Life Balance, Vacation leave, boundaries, work calls, The Worker's Rest Law, The Right to Disconnect, Utilitarian Ethics, Deontological Ethics, Virtue Ethics, Resilience Framework, The Work-Life Harmony Framework, Employee Value Proposition Framework.
Introduction
Due to the advances of technology, employees are always ready at the beck and call of the employer. The overreach of the control of power exercised by the employer is seen in the use of the phone and email. The distinction between working hours and personal hours has become more evident, especially in the era of the pandemic until now (Sen.Tolentino, 2022). The ethical question of whether employees should unplug from work-related communication during vacation leave reflects a deeper tension between organizational efficiency and respect for employee autonomy and well-being.
The Role of Utilitarian, Deontological, and Virtue Ethics on Work-Life Balance
Advances in digital communication technologies have blurred temporal boundaries, transforming constant responsiveness into an implicit workplace norm rather than an explicit requirement (Mazmanian, Orlikowski, & Yates, 2013). However, vacation leave is ethically significant, as it is intended to facilitate psychological recovery, preserve work–life balance, and prevent burnout. Research in organizational behavior indicates that uninterrupted periods of rest are essential for cognitive functioning, emotional regulation, and sustained productivity (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2007). From a utilitarian perspective, respecting vacation boundaries maximizes long-term collective benefit by maintaining a healthier, more engaged workforce, even if short-term responsiveness is occasionally sacrificed.
From a deontological standpoint, ethical concerns arise when organizations violate the moral duty of honoring formally approved leave. Once vacation leave is approved, employees have fulfilled their professional obligations within the agreed contractual framework, and employers are correspondingly obligated to respect that boundary (Kant, 1785/1993). Expecting availability during leave—whether explicitly or implicitly—constitutes a breach of fairness and undermines trust.
Moreover, virtue ethics emphasizes the character of organizations and leaders, highlighting values such as respect, moderation, and empathy. Ethical leadership requires modeling appropriate boundary-setting behavior, as managerial actions often shape organizational norms more powerfully than written policies (Brown & Treviño, 2006). Cultures that reward constant availability risk normalizing overwork and eroding moral responsibility toward employee well-being.
Silent Pressures Experienced by Junior Staff
The ethical complexity of unplugging is further intensified by organizational power asymmetries. Employees, particularly those in junior roles, may experience silent pressure to remain reachable due to fears of negative evaluations, reduced career prospects, or job insecurity, even in the absence of explicit instructions (Pfeffer, 2018). Silent pressure when on leave involves fear of career impact (sign of incompetence), workload anxiety, and cultural norms that discourage taking true breaks. Such conditions undermine genuine autonomy, rendering “voluntary” availability ethically problematic. While certain roles may legitimately require limited availability during emergencies, ethical justification depends on transparent expectations, clearly defined exceptions, equitable distribution of on-call responsibilities, and appropriate compensation or recovery time.
Addressing Issues on Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance frameworks help individuals and organizations focus on prioritizing well-being together with productivity. Typical methods and strategies highlight boundaries, flexibility, and resilience to maintain harmony between work-related and personal demands.
The Resilience Framework
The Resilience Framework groups behaviors/ tasks/ responsibilities into energy and life-enhancing (e.g., decision-making power, recognition, meaningful work) or energy and life-depleting (e.g., excessive workload, conflict, toxic interactions). Although each individual faces their own challenges with respect to work-life balance, the bottom-line secret for better work-life balance is that it is important to give higher weight and influence to enhancers and lower weight and influence to the depleters (Ahuja, Chudoba, Kacmar, McKnight, & George, 2007).
The Work-life Harmony Framework
Work-life harmony identifies the interrelationship between professional and personal interests. Instead of balance, it offers a quality in the interactions between work and life. It means that responsibilities and activities are aligned in support of each other, generating a rhythm that flows with changing daily demands. For instance, a person may attend a family function in the day and work at night-that could be harmony because both spheres have been attended to in a manner that is natural and fulfilling (The School of Positive Psychology, 2025).
Effective harmony embraces flexible boundaries that protect what matters most-undisturbed family time or focused work hours-while allowing fluid transitions if priorities shift. Work-life harmony is not about erasing all boundaries between work and personal life; rather, it is about crafting boundaries that adapt to individual needs and align with the unique interplay of responsibilities and values (The School of Positive Psychology, 2025).
Employee Value Proposition (EVP)Framework
Employee value proposition refers to the unique value that an employer brings to the market of your employees in exchange for their skills, experience, and loyalty to your company. It encompasses aspects of remuneration packages, rewards programs, and career growth opportunities in terms of work-life balance, in addition to organizational values (Verlinden).
Laws and Regulations Promoting Work-Life Balance
Emerging global norms, including the “right to disconnect” regulations adopted in several jurisdictions, reflect growing recognition that unchecked connectivity is neither humane nor sustainable (Eurofound, 2020). Ultimately, respecting employees’ right to unplug during vacation leave affirms human dignity, reinforces ethical integrity, and supports sustainable organizational performance.
In the Philippines, A bill seeking to make it illegal for an employer to require employees to report for work purposes during employees’ rest hours has been filed in the Senate. Senator Francis Tolentino also submitted Senate Bill No. 2475, also known as the proposed Workers' Rest Law, whose aim is to safeguard the rest hours of workers and likewise impose penalties on erring employers.
If it becomes law, employers will be prohibited from:
● requiring
the employee to work.
● requiring
the employee to be on duty, to travel, or be at a prescribed place for work or
work-related activities, such as attending seminars, meetings, team-building,
and other similar activities.
● contacting the employee for work and work-related purposes through phone, e-mail, message, and other means of communication, unless it is for the purpose of notifying the employee of the necessity of rendering emergency or urgent work as provided under Article 89 and Article 92 of the Labor Code of the Philippines. Employees are not be penalized for not opening or answering communications received during rest hours.
Conclusion
The expectation that employees remain accessible during vacation leave reflects a systemic tension between managerial control and the statutory right of workers to rest. In the Philippine context, this issue must be viewed not only as an ethical concern but also as a matter of compliance with labor standards designed to protect employee welfare. Vacation leave and rest periods are not discretionary privileges; they are mechanisms intended to safeguard workers’ physical, mental, and social well-being. When employers intrude upon these periods through work-related communications, they effectively undermine the purpose of approved leave and weaken the protections afforded under labor policy.
Ethically, such practices are difficult to justify. From a utilitarian standpoint, short-term operational convenience gained by contacting employees on leave is outweighed by the long-term consequences of fatigue, disengagement, and reduced productivity. From a deontological perspective, once leave has been formally approved, employers have a corresponding duty to respect that agreement. Implicit expectations of availability, particularly in hierarchical organizational settings, amount to unfair labor practice by exploiting power asymmetries and eroding the employee’s ability to exercise genuine choice. Virtue ethics further challenges managers to demonstrate prudence, respect, and accountability by upholding boundaries that promote humane working conditions.
Work–life balance frameworks reinforce these ethical obligations. The Resilience Framework clearly identifies uninterrupted rest as an energy-enhancing factor essential to sustained performance, while work intrusion during leave constitutes an energy-depleting practice that increases burnout risk. Similarly, the Work–Life Harmony Framework emphasizes that flexibility must operate within protective boundaries; harmony cannot exist when employees feel compelled to remain responsive during legally recognized rest periods. From an Employee Value Proposition perspective, respect for vacation leave strengthens employee trust, retention, and organizational credibility, whereas persistent intrusion signals disregard for worker welfare.
The growing recognition of these concerns is evident in emerging legal standards. International “right to disconnect” regulations and the proposed Workers’ Rest Law in the Philippines affirm that constant connectivity is incompatible with decent work. Senate Bill No. 2475 explicitly prohibits employers from requiring employees to engage in work-related communication during rest hours, except in narrowly defined emergency situations under the Labor Code. Significantly, the bill also protects employees from penalties arising from non-responsiveness during rest periods, directly addressing the silent pressure that often compels workers to remain available despite formal leave approval.
Given these ethical and legal developments, managerial responsibility is clear. Employers must establish explicit policies defining rest hours, vacation leave boundaries, and emergency exceptions, ensuring these are consistent with labor regulations. Operational planning should minimize dependency on employees who are on leave through proper delegation, role coverage, and contingency systems. Managers and senior leaders must model compliance by refraining from unnecessary contact and by reinforcing a culture where rest is recognized as a legitimate and necessary component of productive work. Where certain positions require on-call availability, such arrangements must be transparent, justified, equitably assigned, and accompanied by appropriate compensation or compensatory rest.
Ultimately,
respecting employees’ right to unplug during vacation leave is not merely a
matter of organizational discretion but a reflection of ethical leadership and
legal responsibility. Upholding these boundaries affirms human dignity,
promotes fair labor practices, and contributes to sustainable organizational
performance. In the Philippine labor landscape, ethical management and legal
compliance must converge to ensure that technological connectivity does not
come at the cost of workers’ fundamental right to rest.
References
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