Remote Work During COVID-19 Pandemic and the Right to Disconnect – Implications for Women´s Incorporation in the Digital World of Work

Access is a key foundation to achieve digital inclusion, however, in many countries, including G20 economies, structural inequalities such as those in income, education and employment opportunities increase barriers to technology access and use, which women are likely to experience more severely. 
When promoting policies to facilitate the participation of women in the paid economy, flexible working (including teleworking), is often promoted as a solution. However, studies in several countries show that the digital world of work could further cement traditional gender roles. 
The digital gender divide has been recognized as a challenge to achieve gender equality for women, particularly as the 4th Industrial Revolution continues to increase the pace of change of information and communication technologies. 
As societies become increasingly dependent on digital technology, women are at risk of losing out on the positive promise of full participation in digital economies. 
Reports around the world are showing that during COVID-19 crisis, inequalities are being exacerbated, and so across the world, women are being affected more severely by the socioeconomic impacts of this Pandemic. 
Many women are juggling an increase in unpaid care work while also contending with paid work, now in a new form: the Digital World of Work, Teleworking and its implications. The pressure of balancing work and family life is taking a severe toll on women’s well-being. 
Before the pandemic of COVID-19, women globally did nearly three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men. But after the Pandemic, the care work at home has really grown exponentially. Besides the direct impacts of the pandemic, the response is also exacerbating inequalities. In particular, the closure of schools and nurseries has revealed the fragility of women’s participation in the paid economy. The school closures and household isolation are moving the work of caring for children from the paid economy ‒ nurseries, schools, babysitters ‒ to the unpaid one. 
This really underpins so many of the inequalities that women experience. While both women and men are suffering the economic fallout of the virus across the world, it is women who are being disproportionately more constricted by it. 
The right to disconnect, is design to establish boundaries around the use of electronic communication after working hours and to provide employees with the right to not engage in any work-related activities at home. It is often looked upon as an individual right of the employee to not only disconnect but also to not be reprimanded for failing to connect – or rewarded for constantly staying connected. 
Because of social and cultural roles and stereotypes, women have more responsibility for their families and homes than men, and may not be able to stay connected after the formal working day ends even if they wanted to. This is particularly the case for single mothers, for whom a right to disconnect could have a proportionally larger positive impact than for other employees.  
We intend to analyze how the structural and sociological phenomenon, that women experience, articulates with the Digital World of Work and the Right to Disconnect, paying special attention to family work balance and fair family responsibilities distribution.


Introduction
The regulation of working time and its due limitation is not a new issuetonationalorinternationalregulation.Neitheristheneedtobalancepersonalandworklife.Itismainlywomenwhohavewagedlong battlestoputtheseissuesontheagendaforyears.
The need to give due limitation to working time gave rise to the firstprotectivelabourstandardsthroughtheestablishmentofMaximum WorkingHoursanditscorrelatethetimetorest. 1 However,theincorpo-rationofnewtechnologiesintheWorldofWork,duringthe"Industrial Revolution 4.0," blurred the previously defined limits of the working dayandexacerbatedtheimbalancebetweenpersonalandworklife.
TheappearanceoftheCOVID-19pandemicacceleratedtheurgency of discussion about the need to make new and autonomous regulation -or to revitalize the existing regulations -to contain this new socialconflict. 2  FromaGenderPerspective,theunpaidworkinghourssociallyassigned to women constitute a barrier for women´s incorporation into the labour market. Now, to the social and structural phenomenon of unfair distribution of family responsibilities, we add the new careneedsderivedfromthepandemicsituationandtheproblematicinherentinthemassiveimplementationofremotework.Thedigitalworld of work may even exacerbate structural barriers to the incorporation andparticipationofwomeninthelabormarket.
Inthisarticleweintendtoanalyzethejuxtapositionofdiversebut simultaneoussocialphenomenafromdifferentangles,inordertoaddress the need to introduce an intersectional and gender sensible approachintheregulationoftherighttodisconnect.

Gender dynamics in the world of work
The incorporation of women in the world of work, employment and productionhasincreasednotably.However,women´sparticipationin thelabourmarketisstillmarkedbyinequalityintermsofaccess,duration, and promotion, as a reflection of a system that governs social relationsbetweengendersandassignsrolesandstereotypes.
Themaintenanceandreproductionofexistinginequalitiesbetween menandwomenintheworldofworkisinfluencedbyseveralfactors derived from the sexual division of labor and a gender order (which includes not only work, but other dimensions of life) that assigns to womenthebasicandprimordialfunctionofcaringfortheprivateand domestic sphere, while attributing to this a social value that is inferiorornon-existentincomparisontothevalueofthe"public"world. Markets are completely unaware of the economic value of women´s contributiontosocietymaintenance. 3 The social structure has historically assigned women the greatest responsibilitiesinthedomesticsphere,oftenonthegroundsthatthey are naturally better prepared to assume them, while men have been assigned the tasks of protection and provision of food. This domestic category includes direct care for family members and third parties, as well as other activities related to housework that ensure the mainanalyze which new channeling corresponds to the new conflict or social sub-conflict derivedfromtheimplementationoftechnologyintheworldofwork. tenance and reproduction of individuals and societies 4 . Traditionally, theseactivitieshaven´tbeenconsideredproductiveworkandtherefore remainlargelyunpaidandeconomicallyinvisible.
When analyzing two crucial resources for economic autonomy, income and time, it is observed that asymmetries between men and women have both a monetary component and a component of dedication to different types of jobs which accentuates the gender gap in households.Infact,theunpaidworkthatinvolvescaregivinganddomestic work is predominantly performed by women. In all the countries for which data is available, women's unpaid work time is much greaterthanmen'stimeonthesesameactivities. 5 The construction of these roles and their persistence continues to generate various economic effects that are difficult to measure. For example, the impact of carrying out household chores is not usually quantified,sinceitisnoteasytoattributeamonetaryvaluetothem. 6 Thelackofappreciationofthesetasks,generallyassumedbywomen, makesupmuchofthebasisofgenderinequity,whichinturngeneratesdifferentformsofemploymentdiscrimination.
Itshouldbenoted,then,thatalthoughtheincorporationofwomen into the workplace was accompanied by a reduction in gender gaps, forwomenitalsorepresentedtheassignmentofanewworkactivity, inthiscase"paid,"withouttheirbeingabletoleaveasidetheirother, unpaid activity, although it is recognized as crucial for the developmentofsocieties.
Indeed, many forms of human activity with economic and social valuearenotyetrecognizedas"work."Whenanalyzingthisquestion, we need to remember that so-called "unpaid work" denotes the lack ofascriptionofmarketvaluetotheworksociallyassignedtowomen, whichhasalsobeencalledreproductivework.
TheILOhasalsotakenthissituationintoaccount.In2013,the19th InternationalConferenceofLaborStatisticians(ICLS)adoptedResolution I, which defines care services and unpaid domestic services for householdmembersandfamilymembersas"provisionofservicesfor ownfinaluse" 10 .TheResolutionclearlystatesthatworkcanbedonein any type of economic unit, including households and communities, 11 and may also include services that are not provided in the context of market transactions. 12 In 2018, the 20th ICLS 13 went further on its ResolutionI,providinganewInternationalClassificationofSituation at Work, which covers all jobs and work activities in all their forms, including the provision of services for own final use. 14 In addition to 8 Marcal,Katerine(2016) ILO (2018). Resolution concerning statistics of labor relations, Resolution I, 20thInternationalConferenceofLaborStatisticians,10-19October(Geneva).
14 Theprovisionof"services"forownenduse(beyondtheproductionboundary ofthe2008SystemofNationalAccounts,butwithinthegeneralproductionboundary), AndreaFranconi,KamilaNaumowicz s.6z20 this, the ILO has initiated work on different technologies in order to testalternativeapproachestomeasuringparticipationinunpaidwork andthetimespentonit. 15 Despite the measures implemented to alleviate this unequal and unfair conceptualization of female work in society, the inequalities withinhouseholdspersistsandisoneofthemajorsourcesofinequalitybetweenmenandwomen.Aswomenmustdedicatemoretimeto unpaidwork,theyhavelesstimetostudy,trainorworkapaidjob;or theyareforcedtoacceptmore"flexible"jobs-ingeneral,precarious and low-wage jobs -and they end up facing the reality of a double workingday,becausetheycarryouttasksbothinsideandoutsidethe household.
In the group of women who lack their own income, unpaid work time is higher compared to women who do have their own income. 16 The sexual division of labor aggravates the circumstances of low-incomewomenandthosewhodonothaveeconomicindependence,and whoinsituationsofviolencehavelimitedmeanstoreact. 17 Still today, the main burden of home and care work has fallen on families and, within them, on women. Consequently, that care time constitutes a variable dependent on the capabilities and resources of families and, in turn, on the chance for finishing education and for covers:i)householdaccountingandmanagement,thepurchaseand/ortransportation ofhouseholdgoods;ii)foodpreparationand/orservice,wastedisposalandrecycling ofhouseholdwaste;iii)cleaning,decorationandmaintenanceofthehomeandfacilities,durablehouseholdgoodsandgardening;iv)thecareandeducationofchildren; thetransportationandcareofhouseholdmembers(elderly,dependentsorothers),and domesticanimalsorhouseholdpets,etc.Theexpression"forownfinaluse"shouldbe interpretedasproductionwhoseintendeddestinationismainlyforthefinaluseofthe producerhimself,suchasfixedcapitalformation,orthefinalconsumptionofhouseholdmembersorrelativeslivinginotherhouseholds(ILO).
As the Report of the World Commission on the Future of Work (ILO)states:"Whilemanydoorshavebeenopenedtoimprovetheparticipationofwomeninthelabormarket,womenstilldothree-quarters of non-professional care work. paid from all over the world. While in many countries women are encouraged to enter male-dominated fields, men are rarely encouraged to do jobs traditionally considered female".TheReportaddsthat:"Theworkthatwomendoisoftenseen as'subordinate'tomen'swork,despitethenumberoffemale-headed householdsaroundtheworld." 18 This shows that, despite the growing female participation in marketedwork,thishasnotbeenmatchedbyagreatermaleparticipation inunpaiddomesticandcareworkwithinthehousehold.Theoverload ofworkinghoursforwomenactsasabarriertoparticipationinthelabormarketonequaltermswithmenandaccesstoeconomicresources thatwouldallowthemgreaterdegreesofautonomy.

Conciliation between personal and work life and new technologies
A recent ILO and Gallup survey found that balancing work and family is the biggest challenge for women in developed and emerging countriesandthesecondbiggestchallengeindevelopingcountries. 19 The recent UN Women report 20 suggests that the organization of careanddomesticworkconstitutesastructuralblocktotheeconomic empowermentofall women.Gender inequalityin theworld of work is a nodal factor in the feminization of poverty, and it is accentuated bythegapinlaborparticipation,horizontalandverticaloccupational segregation,underemployment,unemploymentandinformality.
Likewise,thissocialphenomenonofanoverloadofworkinghours (mainly"unpaid")onwomen,impliesthattherearemarginsofgreater incorporationofwomeninpart-timeorflexible"paid"worksincethis allows them to continue with their own tasks of reproductive work andcaringforthesickorelderly. 21 Thesameoccurswithotherforms of work that allow women to stay longer in the home, with formats suchasremotework.
Women may work part-time by choice, but many do so because they assume an unequal share of family responsibilities. In some countries, because of gender stereotypes, part-time work is the only option available to women. Most part-time workers are women. 22 Therefore, although the benefits of this possibility are recognized, they should be understood as a palliative to a symptom instead of aremedyforanunderlyingdisease.Furthermore,thistrendcontributestounequalpay.
Moreover, if used without a gender-sensitive approach, it could reproduce the same barriers for women that we have seen before, or evenexacerbatethembyaggravatingtheimbalancebetweenworkand life,duetotheeliminationofthetraditionaldistinctionbetweenworkingandnon-workinghours.
In terms of equity, in addition to these general problems, there is theriskthatdigitalworkwillreinforcegenderrolesandtheexpectationthatwomenshouldonlycarryoutpaidworkwithintheirhomes. 23 At the same time, there is reason to believe that the lower rate of acceptanceofsporadicjobswithhigheraddedvalueamongwomenalso reflectsthefactthatfewerwomenstudyinSTEMfields. Theseformsofworkmustnecessarilybecombinedwithafairdistribution of family responsibilities and a gender perspective, in order tobeabletomeanrealadvancetowardsgenderequality.
ILO Convention 156 on the distribution of family responsibilities constitutes a great advance in this matter, sending a message to the labor market of non-discrimination of workers with family responsibilities 25 .Recently,theCentenaryDeclarationoftheILOadvancedthis point and placed at the center of the agenda the need for the States toadoptanactiveandcomplementaryroleinregardstotheneedfor equitabledistributionofcareresponsibilities.Italsopromotedtheincorporation of public policies that help families' maintenance of care tasksthatotherwise(andduetosocialdynamics)wouldfallonwomen.Thus,itwasproposedtodiscardthebinomial"woman/man"and movetothebinomial"state/family." Having public support and infrastructures for care services is vitaltochangingthesedeeplyrootedgenderrolesanddynamicswhich limitwomen´sparticipationinthelabourmarket.

The pandemic and gender issues
Crises amplify existing inequalities, and therefore around the world, women are more severely affected by the socio-economic impacts of thecurrentpandemic.
Thisisbecauseinallcountrieswomenearnless,saveless,andare morelikelytobeinprecariousjobswithlittlesecurityorprotectionif they work, or to work in the informal sector without any protection. Andthatmeanstheyhavefewerbuffersagainsteconomicshocks,like theoneswehavebeenexperiencing.
In fact, the gender consequences of the pandemic intersect with otherinequalities,andespeciallywiththeinvisiblebutoverwhelming burdenofunpaidwork,mostofwhichisassumedbywomeninevery country in the world, due to long-term social and cultural roles and stereotypesingrainedinoursocieties.

Right to disconnect and gender equality
Ashasbeendiscussedabove,becauseofsocialandculturalrolesand stereotypes, women have more responsibility for their families and domesticdutiesthandomen.Thus,whenweconsidertheuseofICT technologiesanddigitalcommunicationtoolsintheworkingprocess, women may not stay connected after formal working hours to the same extent as male workers. This is a particularly important barrier for single mothers and parents of children under 12 years of age, for whom the right to disconnect could have a crucial role in terms of work-lifebalanceandgenderequality.
In fact, in the survey launched by Eurofound in April and June 2020regardingtheinfluenceoftheCOVID-19pandemicontheworkingconditionsandwork-lifebalance,oneofthequestionswas:"How ofteninthelast2weeks,haveyoufounditdifficulttoconcentrateon your job because of your family responsibilities?." 39 The data shows that the response differs by gender and age -the largest group that reportedexperiencingthesedifficultiesalwaysormostofthetimewas females aged 35-49. Women with children under 12 years of age reportedmoredifficultiesincombiningworkandprivatelife,problems with concentration on the job because of the family, and struggling withthework-lifebalance.Itwasparticularlyproblematicinthecase ofworkersworkingfromhomeonly.Ifweaddtotheregularworking performancetheamountoftimededicatedtohouseworkandtheevident disproportion between men and women in this field, 40 one may notice the barriers against female workers participating in the digital world of work to the same extent as men. The demand to be always available and "on call" negatively affects women, in particular when workisperformedfromhomeonly.
In recent years, some European countries have launched formal and informal measures to guarantee to workers the right to disconnect (these include France, Spain, Italy and Germany), but common Europeanmeasureshavenotbeentaken.
AndreaFranconi,KamilaNaumowicz s.14z20 ThetradeunionUniGlobalUnioninOctober2019proposedacatalogueofbestpracticesintermsoftherighttodisconnect.Oneofthese recommendations is to ensure agender perspective and equal opportunities while regulating the right to disconnect, in order to promote familyco-responsibility. 41 InJune,2020,EuropeansocialpartnerssignedtheEuropeanSocial Partners Framework Agreement, 42 which also addressed the right to disconnect.Measuresthathavetobetakenincludetrainingandawarenessraisingontheproperuseofdigitaltoolsbyworkers,aimedatrespectingworkingtimealsoincaseofremotework,commitmentfrom management to create a culture that avoids contact with the worker afterregularworkinghours,andadoptionofstrategiestoensureequal opportunities and benefits from the use of modern technologies both formenandforwomen. 43

Conclusions
Remoteworkhasnotonlybecomemorecommon,butissettobecome permanent in many countries, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to separate work and personal life and to protect the health and safety of the worker from risks associated with an overly connected working culture, concrete measures including the right to disconnect should be taken in the nearest future. As the analysis of complexdatashows,thegenderperspectiveisamust.
ThelatestinitiativeoftheEuropeanParliament,whichon21Janu-ary2021adoptedaresolutionwithrecommendationstotheCommissionontherighttodisconnect(2019/2181(INL)), 44 showsthattheright to disconnect and its gender implication has become a notable ques-tionontheEuropeanlevel.TheEuropeanParliamenthasclearlystated that the growing use of digital tools in the work process has led to an 'ever-connected,' 'always on,' or 'constantly on-call' culture. The negativeconsequencesofthisphenomenoninfluenceworkers'fundamentalrights,suchasthelimitationofworkingtime,therighttorest, fair remuneration and fair working conditions, physical and mental health and safety at work, and work-life balance. But the European Parliament has also pointed out that the current working conditions haveadisproportionatelynegativeimpactonworkerswithcaringresponsibilities, who tend to be women, and thus on the principle of equality between women and men. Proposing a draft of the directive ontherighttodisconnect,theEuropeanParliamentcallsontheCom-missiontoaddressthisimportantquestioninEuropeanlegislationand toincludetherighttodisconnectintheNewOccupationalSafetyand HealthStrategy.