“All employees have a right to rest. Even a company cell phone does not oblige employees to interrupt their important rest and relaxation time,” said AK Carinthia President Günther Goach in a press release on Monday. However, a law is needed that clearly defines the right to be unavailable. “Holiday interruptions carry the risk of stress-related illnesses. Holidays and time off in lieu serve as a time for regeneration and are an employee’s right to return to full work capacity after a relaxing break,” argues Goach. Companies “should create clear replacement solutions and internal company accessibility so that nothing stands in the way of the well-earned rest period.”
Exception on-call duty
AK labor lawyer Maximilian Turrini: “Employers are generally not allowed to contact their employees who are on vacation or on time off. If vacation is interrupted by a work-related phone call or email, this counts as working time and may not be deducted from the vacation account.” Even having a company cell phone does not oblige employees to be reachable in their free time. “During vacation, switching off the company cell phone is not only permitted, but is often a basic requirement in order to achieve the relaxation value that the law also requires,” says Turrini.
One exception is the so-called on-call duty. This can be agreed outside of working hours on ten days per month. “Moreover, this can only be agreed during a maximum of two weekly rest periods per month. If an actual deployment takes place during on-call duty, both the travel time and the actual work performed are to be counted as working time,” says Turrini. On-call duty is, however, incompatible with the recreational purpose of vacation and cannot be counted as vacation.
