How to ensure employees' well-being in the digital age? Discussing (new) working time policies as health and safety measures

Technology and flexible work arrangements have potentially positive effects on employees' well-being, by favouring autonomy, work-life balance, reduced role conflicts and stress. Nevertheless, they can also trigger new psychosocial risks derived from intensification of work, overlap between work and life, constant connectivity, and permanent availability. In this context, the paper carries out a legal analysis of working time policies recently recognized at European level to determine their opportunity and potential to contribute to employees' well-being in the digital age. In this sense, the paper analyses working time policies recently recognized by the European Court of Justice or by member states and their potential impact on workers' well-being. The aim of the paper is to determine whether the current legal regulation of such working time policies can potentially contribute to employees' well-being by limiting the negative effects of technology and flexibility while, at the same time, allowing the positive ones. The key results of the paper are that there is opportunity and potential for working time policies to contribute to employees' well-being in the digital age, as they act as health and safety measures by assuring the respect of maximum working time, minimum rest periods and adequate work-life balance. The Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed an enormous potential for flexible work, and it is likely that telework becomes more common post-crisis, given the generally positive experience from workers and employers. In this context, working time policies have the capacity and potential to act as health and safety measures and contributing to employees' well-being.