Further to our recent article, a new report by Autonomy has argued that in the event that a right to disconnect is introduced in the UK, then employers should have to demonstrate a very good reason as to why they should be allowed to opt out.
Right To Disconnect
With the problem of presenteeism on the rise, a recent report from Owl Labs found that 27% of employers are considering introducing a right to disconnect to better enable employees to separate their working lives from their home life. Such a right to disconnect would include measures such as banning / ignoring out of hours phone calls and emails.
Several countries, including Spain, France, and Italy have already introduced legislation to protect employees by introducing a right to disconnect out of hours. Moreover, the Republic of Ireland has also brought in a code of practice.
Furthermore, in an opinion poll conducted by Opinium, they found that 66% of those currently working remotely, and 59% of all workers, supported the idea of a legal right to disconnect being introduced in the UK. Moreover, the trade union, Prospect, has also called for a legal right to disconnect to be included in the forthcoming Employment Bill.
In a recent report, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) stated in relation to the increase in the problem of presenteeism that: "With the recent increase in homeworking, digital technology has the potential to enable an ‘always on’ culture. There’s a concern that the boundaries between work and home life can be increasingly blurred, making it more difficult for many people to switch off.“
Opt Outs
In their new report on the issue of the right to disconnect, Autonomy found that there is now an "epidemic of ‘hidden overtime’, where workers never quite ‘switch off’ and continue to do bits of work throughout the evening and weekend." Indeed, they found that in 2018, there was 2 billion unpaid hours worked, worth £32.7 billion, which works out at 7.5 hours per worker per week.
The report recommends that a legal right to disconnect be introduced through amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996. Such a right would compel employers not to "require a worker employed by [them] to monitor or respond to any work-related communications, or to carry out any work, outside the worker’s agreed working hours.”
Nevertheless, the report also recommends that employers be allowed to seek opt outs / exemptions in those sectors where a legal right to disconnect is not viable (e.g. financial services, the care sector). However, in relation to this, the report states: "a right to disconnect should function as an optout legal requirement, with a specific standard that applies to all firms and sectors, meaning that employers who wish to opt-out have to demonstrate good reason why the policy should not be implemented. This leaves the flexibility some industries arguably require to have workers available at unsociable hours."
Reaction
As highlighted above, the trade union, Prospect, has been campaigning for a legal right to disconnect. The research director at Prospect, Andrew Pakes, responded to the research from Autonomy by stating: "Other countries have already acted to address this by bringing in a right to disconnect for workers, and we are calling on the UK government to take action now so that we are not left behind."
The deputy leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner, added: "Alongside the right to flexible working, there must be the right to disconnect. It is only fair that workers are able to establish healthy boundaries, switching off and disconnecting from work outside working hours. In the modern workplace, we cannot find ourselves in a place where workers are expected to compromise their families, responsibilities or hobbies in order to meet employer expectations. It’s not a sustainable way to run an economy. Many good businesses want to see these sorts of protections guaranteed to workers across the board."
