BACKGROUND partnership with BestJobs and other online recruitment platforms in Romania ⁷. Ever more observers believe that teleworking will become the new normal in employment relations ⁸. As regards the protection of employees and their rest time, it must be noted that the other provisions set out in the Telework Law and Labour Code, including the limits on, and monitoring of, working time, have remained in force for this entire period. Consequently, according to the legislation that has been in force, even during the pandemic employees could not be forced to perform work outside working hours or respond to the employer's requests or to requests by their employer's clients outside working hours. Despite all these legal provisions, in practice it is a fact that the employees working remotely(teleworkers) face a significant issue as regards the balance between working time and private life. Most of them currently find themselves working“around the clock”, sometimes without any limits. Of those service employees who worked from home during the epidemiological crisis, 42% up to the age of 34 complain of difficulties in maintaining their regular work schedule, while 28% of them complain that they are very easily distracted by other activities ⁹. It would be interesting to analyse the reasons why the border between working time and resting time is blurred, difficult to specify and impossible to pin down in a clear manner. Although current legislation protects employees and they are not obliged to perform work outside working hours, in practical terms they are not able to cite such legal limits. As the employee is the weaker party in employment relationships, legislation needs to provide for effective instruments to ensure protection of their rights. However, the most effective legal provisions ensure protection of the rights and interests of both parties in employment relationships, employers and employees. As legal systems can vary greatly from country to country, it is not possible to cover all possible aspects of legalising a right to disconnect in this paper. Instead, the aim here is to provide guidance and inspiration for national unions that are themselves experts on the laws in their countries and that wish to campaign for a legal right to disconnect. Note that the translations of the laws provided in this paper are not official translations and should not be cited as such. 7 https://www.news.ro/economic/sondaj-mult-jumatate-dintre-angajatii­domeniul-serviciilor-au-lucrat-acas a-perioada-crizei-salariatii-pan a-34-ani­plang-ales-izolare-sociala-dificultatile-mentine-programul-lucru-obisnuit­1922401415112020061219391364 8 https://www.zf.ro/companii/analiza-zf-pandemia-schimba-piata-muncii­din-temelii-munca-de-acasa-19538216 9 https://www.zf.ro/profesii/6-din-10-angajati-din-servicii-au-lucrat-de­acasa-in-perioada-crizei-19287925 3