The role of modern tools for electronic communication vis-à-vis violation of labor rights - international and Macedonian perspective

Rapid development of communication technologies results in burdening employees with business related tasks beyond working hours. Several countries including European Union are undertaking actions to tackle this issue. Laying out some excelling international practices the study focuses on exploring the actual situation regarding the violation of working hours in Republic of Macedonia via tools for electronic communication. Semi structured interviews with employees and relevant social partners, as well as review of existing legislative and other documents were used for data gathering, and content analysis was deployed for analyzing the data. France and Germany are countries that champion the efforts for stopping the afore mentioned violation. Concerning Macedonia, results reveal there are many cases of violation of working hours through tools for electronic communication, both in public and private legal entities. There is not any specific regulation addressing this issue, the provisions of the labor legislation are lacking clarity, and the employees are reluctant to use the available legal instruments fearing subsequent retribution from the employers. The Employers Association does not consider the after work electronic communication as serious violation of employees’ rights. The Parliament and Labor Inspection should act on upgrading the legislation in direction of stopping this illegal practice, and efficiently observe its implementation.