50% Support Proposed New Legal Right To Switch Off
New research conducted by the Autonomy Institute has found that 50% support the new Labour Government's plan to introduce a legal right to disconnect (which it refers to as “a legal right to switch off“).
The survey found that just 17% oppose the proposals.
The Government plan to include a legal right to switch off in its new Employment Rights Bill.
In an announcement made on the 19th August 2024, the Prime Minister’s deputy spokesperson stated: “Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and productive they do need to be able to switch off, and a culture presenteeism can be damaging to productivity….It’s obviously one of the central missions of the government to support growth, and we know that productivity is vital to growth.“
The spokesperson added: “It’s about making sure we have the right balance between making the most of the flexible working practices that we saw following the pandemic with also having appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that people can stay productive in light of that.“
Following up on its research, moreover, the Autonomy Institute called for the Government to toughen up the proposed legislation by adding in financial penalties for those employers who fail to adhere to the legal right to switch off. This happens in other countries who have a legal right to switch off such as France
The Autonomy Institute stated in its report on the proposed legal right to switch off legislation that: "Although the government has pledged to implement a version of the policy during the current parliamentary terms as part of its New Deal for Working People, crucial details about how the policy would work are still missing."
The director of research at the Autonomy Institute, Will Stronge, added that: "Giving too much power to employers to dictate the terms of the new right to switch off legislation could risk seeing the policy fall by the wayside. A more substantial, full right to switch off would go one step further. As is the case in France and Portugal, this legislation would not only give workers the right to ignore out of hours contact from their employers but would also punish employers for ignoring the spirit of the legislation and repeatedly contacting workers."
20% Would ResIgn If They Lost The Right To Homeworking
A new survey conducted by the Green Insurer has found that 20% of workers would resign if they lost the right to work from home, with a further 5% stating that they would seek legal advice on the issue and 43% saying that they would look to find a compromise with their employer. Just 12% would like to return to full time office working.
33% of the respondents also confirmed that the amount of time they spent working from home had increased as a direct result of COVID-19 pandemic.
Employers Losing Staff Due To Lack Of Flexible Working Options
Research conducted by Remote has found that 72% of employers state that they have lost employees to other employers who are able to offer superior flexible working options than them, especially those who are able to offer more flexible hours, the ability to work remotely from home, and part-time working.
84% of respondents also confirmed that they had encountered an increase in demand for flexible working
The survey also found that whilst 43% of employers had experienced problems in recruiting, this fell to 33% for those employers that offered remote working. Furthermore, 30% of those offering remote working had experienced a reduction in employee turnover, 40% reported higher job satisfaction and 38% increased productivity, whilst 81% had been able to expand their workforce.
Commenting upon the findings, the CEO and co-founder of Remote, Job van der Voort, stated: "While we are still in the early stages of developing best practices for remote work, the advantages far outweigh the challenges. Our data reflects what we’re hearing from customers: flexible work is reshaping business for the better, enabling companies to access great talent worldwide."
