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What impact would a right to disconnect have?

Australia has just joined some other countries, including France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, in adopting a ‘right to disconnect’ from work in various forms. Head of Employment Tania Goodman provides insights into how this right might affect the employment landscape in the UK.

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Published 26 February 2024

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A right to disconnect essentially prevents employers from contacting workers beyond their contracted hours, imposing sanctions for those who breach the legislation. The aim is to create more rigid boundaries between work and home life, providing that employees are not subjected to unreasonable expectations and obligations, allowing them to fully detach and thereby enjoy their downtime and private life.

Existing legislation

The Working Time Regulations 1998 provide for a working week of no more than 48 hours on average, calculated over a 17-week period. However, many organisations require staff to opt out of these regulations and visibility about how it works in practice, especially with people working off site, is more difficult. Australia’s employment law is similarly structured to the UK, with National Employment Standards, imposing minimum pay provisions and maximum work hours. Despite this, Australia has decided to impose further conditions to protect employees’ working hours. The question is whether Britain will follow suit. It’s believed a right to disconnect may form part of Labour’s general election manifesto, and so could be on the horizon.

If the UK does not embrace this legislation, what might an alternative look like?

Perhaps an increased burden on employers to account for their duty of care to their employees and more effective mechanisms for managing work-related stress and anxiety. For example, ensuring that monitoring software is not just a tool for employers to check on productivity but also a means to identify employees who are regularly working or checking emails beyond their contracted hours and thereby giving employers the opportunity to discuss this and recognise their legal duty to protect employee’s mental, as well as physical health.

Does your workplace need the right to disconnect?

No doubt captains of industry and boardrooms will be highly sceptical about the prospect of further restraints being put on employers in this context when many would prefer to get everyone back to the office more frequently. A reasonable and practical balance needs to be struck for both the employer and employee, as we try to navigate the new normal and the benefits and challenges it presents in equal measure.

For more information, you can visit our Employment Lawyers page.

This is an extract of the full article published by HR Magazine on 23 February 2024.

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Longer Reads

What impact would a right to disconnect have?

Australia has just joined some other countries, including France, Spain, Portugal and Belgium, in adopting a ‘right to disconnect’ from work in various forms. Head of Employment Tania Goodman provides insights into how this right might affect the employment landscape in the UK.

Published 26 February 2024

Associated sectors / services

  • Employment law for employers

Authors

A right to disconnect essentially prevents employers from contacting workers beyond their contracted hours, imposing sanctions for those who breach the legislation. The aim is to create more rigid boundaries between work and home life, providing that employees are not subjected to unreasonable expectations and obligations, allowing them to fully detach and thereby enjoy their downtime and private life.

Existing legislation

The Working Time Regulations 1998 provide for a working week of no more than 48 hours on average, calculated over a 17-week period. However, many organisations require staff to opt out of these regulations and visibility about how it works in practice, especially with people working off site, is more difficult. Australia’s employment law is similarly structured to the UK, with National Employment Standards, imposing minimum pay provisions and maximum work hours. Despite this, Australia has decided to impose further conditions to protect employees’ working hours. The question is whether Britain will follow suit. It’s believed a right to disconnect may form part of Labour’s general election manifesto, and so could be on the horizon.

If the UK does not embrace this legislation, what might an alternative look like?

Perhaps an increased burden on employers to account for their duty of care to their employees and more effective mechanisms for managing work-related stress and anxiety. For example, ensuring that monitoring software is not just a tool for employers to check on productivity but also a means to identify employees who are regularly working or checking emails beyond their contracted hours and thereby giving employers the opportunity to discuss this and recognise their legal duty to protect employee’s mental, as well as physical health.

Does your workplace need the right to disconnect?

No doubt captains of industry and boardrooms will be highly sceptical about the prospect of further restraints being put on employers in this context when many would prefer to get everyone back to the office more frequently. A reasonable and practical balance needs to be struck for both the employer and employee, as we try to navigate the new normal and the benefits and challenges it presents in equal measure.

For more information, you can visit our Employment Lawyers page.

This is an extract of the full article published by HR Magazine on 23 February 2024.

Associated sectors / services

  • Employment law for employers

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