A new survey recently published by iCompario has found that over a third of business leaders (36%) would oppose the introduction of a 'right to disconnect'. Nevertheless, despite this, 50% of employers and 66% of employees would support such a measure
Right To Disconnect
As we highlighted in an article published just over a year ago on the subject of the 'right to disconnect', the problem of presenteeism has continued to escalate. Indeed, a report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) stated 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.“
A report published by Owl Labs revealed that 27% of employers are now contemplating introducing a right to disconnect in some form to assist their staff in separating their home life from their work responsibilities. These proposals include measures such as banning / ignoring out of hours phone calls and emails.
Moreover, countries such as Spain, France, and Italy have already introduced a right to disconnect to protect employees. Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland has brought in a code of practice.
Back in 2020, the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, was the Women and Equalities Minister. On the 22nd April 2020, she told the Women and Equalities Committee that there needs to be a cultural shift away from presenteeism, and towards flexible working.
In that appearance before the Committee, Liz Truss stated: “I’m also interested in the idea of how we can change the culture of offices to move away from presenteeism to move towards more flexible working, and to integrate families more in the lives we’ll lead. I think people are more open about the role of family life in the workplace than they were before and I think that’s a positive change. I think previously it was something that senior executives felt they had to hide away.”
Nevertheless, Liz Truss did not go as far as to propose a legal right to disconnect. However, the trade union, Prospect, has been campaigning for a right to disconnect to be introduced in the UK. In relation to their campaign, Andrew Pakes, the research director at Prospect, stated: “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.“
New Survey
The new survey on the issue of the right to disconnect just published by iCompario, in which 2000 employees were canvassed, found that:-
- Whilst 36% of business leaders opposed the introduction of a 'right to disconnect', 50% were in favour, whilst 66% of employees supported the idea. A greater proportion of female employees (70%) were in favour, compared to men (62%)
- Extrapolating the findings to the entire workforce using Office for National Statistics (ONS) labour force data, iCompario estimate that whilst 6.5 million workers feel ‘some pressure’ to check work related correspondence, including emails, 3.5 million feel ‘very pressured’ to do so. Overall, 67% of workers felt a degree of pressure to check to some extent. In terms of those who feel 'very pressured', more male employees (14%) than women (10%) provided that response
- Whilst 34% of respondents stated that they are able to switch off immediately they finish work, 14% said they were never able to do so. Moreover, 42% of those who exercised restraint in terms of checking workplace correspondence, stated they were able to switch off with little difficulty. In contrast, 25% of those who check every time they use a device from which they can access work emails, are never able to switch off. iCompario conclude that: "This backs up the notion that employees who constantly check their work emails never truly switch off, and enforces the importance of allowing yourself a regular break from work and the comms that come along with it, as an essential step in being able to relax properly."
- The more senior the employee, the longer it takes them to completely switch off from work (7.5 days for a CEO or business owner, compared to the average of 5.7 days)
- 76% of employees admitted to checking work related correspondence over their Christmas break
Reaction
In terms of those 36% of business leaders who oppose the introduction of a right to disconnect in the UK, their attutude was once best summed up by the founder of Collective Campus, Steve Glaveski, who argues that a legal right to disconnect is a “half-baked solution to a poorly diagnosed problem, one that could do more harm than good.” He contends that the solution requires a shift to a “culture where people are empowered to harness their attention to get stuff done, free from the shackles of real-time communication that robs people of their agency to work how it best suits them. This requires a shift from real-time communication and hours, to asynchronous communication and outcomes.“
Glaveski adds that being able to choose when, where, and how to perform a task “is at the core of asynchronous communication….Asynchronous communication promotes uninterrupted stretches of time where people can actually do deep, focused work. This not only results in a more rewarding experience of work, but also shorter hours, thanks to the liberation of our cognition to focus on high-value tasks….It liberates people from cognitively debilitating task switching, and gives employees the freedom to decide how, where and when they work, rather than handing over that decision to the Government”
