The insurance firm's new collective agreement recognises employees' right to turn off their mobile phones outside of working hours. The agreement also looks to help workers achieve a work-life balance, by developing distance work and flexible working hours. With the company's agreement often considered a point of reference for the sector, the new features contained therein are expected to set a new trend and further encourage companies to adopt measures allowing for the right to disconnect. This initiative from Axa comes at a time when the Spanish labour ministry has been showing interest in the law which recently came into force in France. It is also an issue on which the country's trade unions would like to open the debate.
The Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), which is the majority trade union at Axa Seguros, signed the first collective agreement that recognises the right for workers to disconnect from relevant technological implements outside of working ours. The agreement is binding between 2017 and 2020. The new clause, the first of its kind in Spain, says that “Axa recognises the right of workers to not respond to e-mails or work messages outside of working hours, except in the case of force majeure or in exceptional circumstances”.
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