Opening one's eyes, dozens of work group messages pop up, receiving WeChat notifications in the middle of the night to handle urgent matters, and returning home with a laptop to continue rushing for materials after work have become daily routines for many professionals in the digital age. How can we protect workers' right to rest when instant messaging tools blur the traditional nine to five work boundary? At this year's National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the phenomenon of "invisible overtime" has once again attracted high attention from delegates and members. The boundary between work and life is clearly defined. "A considerable proportion of workplace workers work overtime almost every day," and "many workplace workers need to be on standby 24 hours a day." Wu Xiaoying, deputy chairman of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the 93 Society, cited a series of survey data and exclaimed, "The rapid iteration of digital technology has brought about a drastic change in traditional labor forms. Workplace virtualization, flexible working hours, and diversified employment relationships have become typical features of the digital economy era." "Even after work hours, even if not in the office, a message on the phone can still 'mobilize' workers. ”Representative Wu Xiaoying said that these phenomena indicate that the traditional rights framework of "fixed working hours and fixed places" is no longer suitable for the needs of new forms of labor. Every day, as soon as I open my eyes, I have to check the messages of dozens of work groups, and it is not uncommon for professionals to be trapped by these groups. Zhao Mingzhi, a representative of the Shengli Bridge Postal Department of China Post Group Co., Ltd.'s Zhongshan District Postal Division in Dalian, Liaoning Province, who once spoke out for the rest rights of couriers at the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has once again paid attention to the offline rest rights of workers this year. Representative Zhao Mingzhi noticed that many companies with high levels of digitalization have implemented flexible working systems, which superficially give employees time autonomy, but in reality require employees to be online 24/7 and respond to information in seconds. The actual working hours of employees far exceed the legal standards. However, due to the lack of written approval, fixed location, and clear duration records, it is difficult for workers' efforts to be recognized as overtime, and they cannot receive overtime pay or enjoy compensatory time off. She believes that the boundary between life and work needs to be clearly defined by law. By 2025, the average weekly working hours of employees in enterprises nationwide will reach 48.6 hours, exceeding the limit of 44 hours per week. ”Professor Lu Ming, a specially appointed member of the Antai School of Economics and Management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, used this set of data to prove that "overtime" has already affected the happiness of workers. He believes that overtime culture will affect the health of employees, suppress consumption vitality, and exacerbate social anxiety. How to protect workers' offline rest rights by making overtime no longer "invisible" beyond 8 hours of "rest without rest"? Many representatives and members expressed their views. In recent days, Li Zhengguo, director of Sichuan Henghexin Law Firm and a member of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress and Political Consultative Conference, has "settled in" the online workstation of the National People's Congress and Political Consultative Conference members in Sichuan Province. While interacting with netizens and collecting their opinions, he has also seen many discussions about "invisible overtime" among netizens, which has sparked his thinking. Member Li Zhengguo said that although the Labor Law stipulates the right to rest, the current law lacks a clear definition of "online overtime", and after disputes arise, workers often lack a basis for safeguarding their rights. In addition, the current overtime pay standard is based on traditional overtime recognition, but online overtime has fragmented characteristics. This leads to extremely high accounting costs in legal practice if overtime hours are accumulated by minute; If the overtime pay calculation standard is set according to the threshold, it is easy to lead to a significant reduction in the rights and interests of workers. Member Lv Guoquan, former director of the General Office of the All China Federation of Trade Unions, who has long been concerned about overtime and vacation issues, also believes that safeguarding workers' right to rest should not rely solely on employers' self-discipline or post event "judicial remedies". From proposing "protecting workers' offline rest rights" in 2024 to proposing "setting average weekly working hours for workers" in 2025, this year, Member Lv Guoquan continues to focus on regulating "hidden overtime". He pointed out that the right to offline rest has not yet been legalized, and the current legal definition of "working hours" still remains at the level of "physical attendance". Although the Supreme People's Court has clarified the judgment standard of "substantial labor+obvious occupation of rest" through writing work reports and publishing typical cases, the enforcement standards vary in different regions and cases, and a large number of "hidden overtime" are difficult to identify. Member Lv Guoquan believes that in order to establish the "right to offline rest" in accordance with the law, it is necessary to delineate the boundary between work and rest, clarify that workers outside the statutory working hours have the right to refuse non emergency work contacts and tasks, and employers shall not punish them for this. He suggested adding provisions regulating "invisible overtime" in laws and regulations such as the Labor Law and the Labor Contract Law, standardizing and quantifying standards such as "substantive labor" and "obvious time occupation", clarifying the criteria for identifying new forms of labor such as online work and remote work, and making overtime no longer "invisible". Digitization empowers the protection of rights and interests. In the era of digitalization, we need to use digital methods to safeguard workers' right to rest. Xiao Beigeng, Dean of the Jiangwan Institute of Rule of Law and Public Policy at Hunan Normal University, noticed that currently, some local human resources and social security departments have established digital platforms for labor security supervision, integrated complaint and reporting channels, and achieved online acceptance, assignment, and handling of labor rights protection cases, improving supervision efficiency. Representative Xiao Beigeng called on relevant departments to use big data analysis technology to monitor and warn employers of abnormal working hours, overtime and other situations, timely discover potential illegal behaviors, and provide a basis for resolving disputes over rest and vacation. For new forms of employment workers, it is necessary to scientifically formulate a rest system and optimize platform algorithms to avoid excessively pursuing efficiency and compressing workers' rest time. When allocating orders, the working hours of workers should be fully considered. A rest reminder mechanism should also be established to remind workers to take a break through app pop ups and other means. In the state where workers are 'resting without rest', no matter how efficient digital technology is, it will bring unfairness. ”Zhang Qiaoliang, Chief Partner of Shandong Kangqiao Law Firm, suggested innovating supervision, building a big data monitoring platform, simplifying the process of workers' rights protection, and opening up a green channel for invisible overtime rights protection, exploring new models for protecting the right to rest in new forms of employment. At the same time, we will release unified judgment standards for typical cases and clarify the boundaries of special professions and emergency affairs. Regulating invisible overtime and internal overtime is a systematic project that requires multi-party linkage and multiple measures. ”Member Lu Ming believes that industry associations and trade unions should play an active role and take the lead in formulating working hour standards and practical guidelines for their respective industries; To reshape social consensus, transform overtime practices, guide enterprises to introduce advanced management methods, and use output rather than working hours as the core basis for assessing workers. When technology is no longer the driving force behind blurred boundaries, but a means of clearly defining and safeguarding them, the right to offline rest can truly take root. ”Member Li Zhengguo called for reshaping the erroneous understanding that "online means dedication" from the perspective of social co governance. He suggested gradually changing the social evaluation system, advocating a healthy workplace ecology of "efficient work and sufficient rest", and making it the norm to leave work on time and dare to "disconnect" in the workplace. 'Being online anytime' and 'bringing work home' should not be assumed as the obligation of workers. Representative Wu Xiaoying believes that the development achievements of the digital age should not come at the cost of infringing on workers' right to rest. Only by allowing the time outside of statutory working hours to truly return to the workers themselves and allowing them to work with peace of mind can we better promote the construction of harmonious labor relations. (New Society)