UK Tones Down Worker ‘Right to Switch Off’ Demands on Firms

Britain’s Labour government is watering down ambitions to give employees a legal right to ignore work demands outside office hours, favoring softer rules that had limited impact for workers in Ireland.

Rather than seeking legislation for the “right to switch off,” ministers instead will push for a code of practice for businesses, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named. The government is modeling its approach on Belgium and Ireland, which have guidelines on out-of-hours communications, and in contrast with France and Portugal, where the right to disconnect is enshrined in law.

The softer tack is part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s effort to assure executives that Britain is a good place to invest, and is a setback to union leaders who have pushed for tougher measures. With the economy set to slow and productivity lagging, the government is keen to keep businesses comfortable with its agenda.

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“The right to switch off” was part of Labour’s appeal to voters ahead of its July 4 election victory. The aim is to create clearer boundaries between work and home lives to fight burnout and improve productivity in the age of remote working. It would prevent managers from asking employees to carry out extra tasks at weekends, during annual leave or outside normal working hours — for example by sending emails late at night.

An Irish-style code of practice would be weaker than had been expected when Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner first set out the plans as a shadow minister in 2022, when she pledged that “workers will have a new right to disconnect from work outside of working hours” and not be contacted by their employer outside of working hours.

A law would enable people to claim compensation if their right to disconnect was violated, while the code of practice serves as guidance on how managers should behave. Guidelines have no legal power on their own but can be used in court as evidence for separate charges such as unfair dismissal or discrimination.

News of Labour’s fresh approach was welcomed by firms fearing more restrictive legislation.

“A rigid and one-size-fits all approach to a right to switch off would have serious consequences for many businesses’ ability to function,” Alexandra Hall-Chen, principal policy officer for employment at the Institute of Directors. The rules “should focus on protecting employees who choose not to respond to communication outside of working hours, rather than on banning employers from contacting employees outside of agreed hours.”

Siobhra Rush, partner and head of the Dublin office at law firm Lewis Silkin, said the effects of the changes in Ireland had been limited. “The biggest impact that we saw here was, you’d see the footer at the end of an email saying, ‘I’m sending this outside my own working hours, but unless I’ve marked it as urgent, I don’t expect a response’,” Rush said.

A third of Irish workers weren’t aware the code of practice existed, with numbers relatively unchanged since the right to disconnect came into effect three years ago, according to a survey conducted by consultancy HR Buddy in April. Less than 10% reported they noticed a difference since the policy change in 2021.

Labour has pledged to introduce legislation on workers’ rights in its first 100 days in power, including tighter rules on zero-hour contracts and making workers eligible for sick pay from the first day on the job, which will then be consulted on with businesses and trade unions before becoming law.

“Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and productive they do need to be able to switch off, and the culture of presenteeism can be damaging to productivity,” said Camilla Marshall, spokeswoman for Starmer. “But it depends on the type of role that someone has, the needs of the organization. It’s certainly not a one size fits all so we’re looking at various models.”

The concern is that allowing for too many exceptions to the “right to disconnect” will render it meaningless.

“The financial sector opting out of this will make it useless because they may drive this notion of what the ideal productive worker looks like in lucrative settings and what professionals look like,” said Heejung Chung, professor of work and employment at King’s College London.

Flexibility remains the main appeal for businesses of an Irish-style code-of-practice, according to Ben Willmott, head of public policy and public affairs at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. This means companies can tailor out-of-hours rules to their sector, as well as to individual preferences.

This softer-touch approach would also prevent extra cases hitting Britain’s clogged courts, which already face record backlogs.

“In influencing behaviors, you don’t always need a legal sanction,” said James Davies, partner at Lewis Silkin. “Just have a greater awareness and focus on the importance of not overworking people, giving people the opportunity to switch off to improve their family life and their health.”

Workers in companies without a right to disconnect policy were more likely to experience issues like headaches, stress and anxiety, an EU-backed survey of employees and HR managers in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain found. Those working for employers with right to disconnect policies also reported having a better work-life balance than peers without access to such policy.

Still, there are limits to what a right to disconnect can fix, regardless of its form.

“It’s not a panacea,” Willmott said. “It won’t necessarily deal with underlying issues around toxic work cultures, managers who aren’t very good at managing people or excessive workloads.”

Photograph: Commuters pass the Bank of England (BOE), right, in the City of London, UK, on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024. Photo credit: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg