COFACE Families Europe has contributed to the Call for Evidence on the Quality Jobs Act. This initiative, announced in the 2025 State of the Union and the 2026 Commission Work Programme, aims to address new realities for workers in the modern economy. Working conditions and job quality are affected by labour market structural shifts, increasing digitalisation and evolving work and workplaces. Good, fair working conditions adapted to the modern economy are essential for sustainable competitiveness and quality jobs and should be ensured for any type of contract and across sectors.
COFACE Families Europe calls on the European Commission to ensure that the Quality Jobs Act:
- recognises work-life balance and the ability to combine employment with care responsibilities as integral dimensions of job quality;
- promotes accessible and non-discriminatory flexible working arrangements for workers, particularly parents and carers;
- ensures that flexibility does not lead to increased workloads, work intensification or expectations of permanent availability;
- legislates on the right to disconnect;
- takes into account the specific needs of persons with disabilities, including parents with disabilities and carers with disabilities; and
- recognises that quality employment policies need to be supported by adequate care and support services, decent wages and family-friendly workplaces.
Flexible work arrangements for parents and carers
Access to flexible working arrangements can make a significant contribution to improving work-life balance and supporting people to remain in employment throughout different stages of the life course. This is particularly important for parents, family carers and workers with family responsibilities, who may need to adapt their working time or place of work to childcare, long-term care, medical appointments or other care-related needs.[1]
Flexibility can also benefit employers by allowing workers to organise their work in ways that enable them to deliver the expected outputs while managing their responsibilities outside work. However, flexibility should not depend solely on individual workers being proactive in requesting it. Where access to flexible working arrangements is treated as an exceptional accommodation rather than a normal feature of quality employment, parents and carers may face stigma or be perceived as less committed to their work. This can create additional barriers for those who already have substantial care responsibilities.
COFACE therefore calls for flexible working arrangements to be promoted as an accessible option for all workers, wherever compatible with the nature of the job, while ensuring that flexibility does not result in increased workloads, reduced job quality or the transfer of organisational responsibilities from employers to individual workers.
The Right to Disconnect
The increasing use of digital technologies and teleworking has made it possible to work “anytime, anywhere”. While teleworking and other flexible arrangements can bring important benefits, including reduced commuting time and greater autonomy, permanent connectivity can also blur the boundaries between working and private life.[2]
A meaningful right to disconnect is therefore an essential component of quality jobs. Workers should be able to disengage from work-related communications and tasks outside agreed working hours without negative consequences.[3] This is particularly important for parents and carers, for whom insufficient boundaries between work and private life can intensify existing pressures and undermine their ability to provide care and spend time with their families.
Measures supporting the right to disconnect should therefore be accompanied by effective implementation, awareness-raising and workplace practices that prevent an implicit expectation of constant availability.
Relevance for persons with disabilities
Flexible working arrangements can be particularly important for persons with disabilities, including parents with disabilities and carers with disabilities. Flexibility and, where the occupation allow remote or hybrid work can facilitate access to employment and help workers manage medical appointments, accessibility-related needs and care responsibilities. For a parent with a disability, for example, flexibility may be important when managing their own appointments; for carers with disabilities, it can also facilitate appointments and support for a child or another family member with disabilities.[4]
At the same time, remote work cannot be a solution for all occupations or workers. The Quality Jobs Act should therefore promote a broad range of flexible working arrangements, including flexibility in working time, teleworking, organisation of working patterns and, where feasible, place of work. These measures should complement, rather than replace, reasonable accommodation and accessible workplaces.
Overall, a Quality Jobs Act should ultimately contribute to labour markets in which workers can participate in employment without having to choose between earning a living and fulfilling their family and care responsibilities.
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[1] See COFACE’s 2022 report on the transposition of the EU Work-life Balance Directive: https://coface-eu.org/eu-work-life-balance-directivetransposition-in-action-a-mixed-picture/
[2] See also: Eurofound (2023), Right to disconnect: Implementation and impact at company level, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/publications/all/right-disconnect-implementation-and-impact-company-level
[3] See also: Eurofound (2021), Right to disconnect: Exploring company practices, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/publications/all/right-disconnect-exploring-company-practices
[4] COFACE Families Europe: The Work-life Balance of Parents with Disabilities: A Policy Review, 26 November 2026 https://coface-eu.org/eu-policy-review-work-life-balance-of-parents-with-disabilities/
