The Right to Disconnect

Recently I received an email and underneath the signature it read ‘Your right to disconnect — I have sent this email at a time that is convenient to me. I do not expect you to respond if outside of your usual working hours.’ Prior to receiving the email I had never heard of the right to disconnect, so I set out to learn more.

What is the right to disconnect

The Eurofound website defines The Right to Disconnect as ‘A worker’s right to be able to disengage from work and refrain from engaging in work-related electronic communications, such as emails or other messages, during non-work hours.’ The website goes on to explain ‘This concept has developed as a result of advances in communication technologies and their impact on people’s daily lives. The widespread use of smartphones and other digital devices means that being always ‘on call’ has become a reality in many workplaces, as continuous remote access can create pressure for employees to be constantly accessible. The expectation that workers will be available at almost any time for online or mobile communication is now considered potentially hazardous to workers’ health.’

Why do we need a right to disconnect

The right to disconnect seeks to protect workers’ health and wellbeing and prevent overworking. As long ago as 2017 The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warned that almost a third of UK workers reported they could not switch off in their personal time as a result of working remotely. The study which surveyed 2,000 people also found two fifths of workers admitted to actively checking their work mobile or emails at least five times a day outside of working hours. Meanwhile, a fifth said fears over surveillance of their work made them feel anxious and impacted their sleep. And in 2020 the Office for National Statistics found people who completed any work from home did six hours of unpaid overtime on average per week during 2020 compared with just over three hours for those that never work from home.

Is the right to disconnect law?

In the UK the right to disconnect is only a proposal — the UK is behind the rest of the world, with the right to disconnect being legally recognised in many countries.

• France legally recognised the right to disconnect in 2013 with a national cross sectoral agreement on quality of life encouraging businesses to avoid any intrusion on employees’ private lives by specifying periods when devices should be switched off. This right was subsequently made law on 8 August 2016.
• Portugal introduced a law in 2021 that would make it illegal for bosses to text or email their employees outside of working hours. The laws were dubbed the ‘right to rest’ and were brought in to improve work life balance as working from home become more commonplace across the country. 
• In Ireland employees don’t have a legal right to disconnect but they can take action against employers at the Labour Court or Workplace Relations Commission if they feel they have been penalised for refusing to attend work outside of normal working hours.
• Belgium passed a law in February 2022 allowing civil servants to switch off work emails, texts and telephone calls received out of hours, without fear of reprisals. The legislation protects public sector employees from being permanently on call, although out of hours contact is permissible in exceptional circumstances. Plans are being discussed to extend the new laws to employees in the private sector.
• Italy and Spain also have legislation that includes the right to disconnect and discussions are ongoing in other EU Member States. In some cases, companies have taken it upon themselves to introduce a right to disconnect, for example the German car manufacturer Volkswagen has policies to limit emails sent before the working day, near the end of the day and over weekends.
• Globally Kenya is the first African country to consider such a move. The proposed Employee (Amendment) Bill seeks to prevent employers from expecting employees to answer calls, text messages or emails outside working hours, at weekends or on public holidays.

How would a right to disconnect work in the UK?

Research by Autonomy proposes amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996 to formally introduce a legal right to disconnect in the UK. The proposed amendments are intended to prevent employers from requiring or expecting employees to monitor or respond to any work related communications or carry out work outside of their normal working hours and employees who are dismissed or face disciplinary proceedings for failing to work outside of their agreed working hours would have the recourse of bringing an employment tribunal claim.

The trade union Prospect has also been campaigning for a right to disconnect and has proposed three methods by which a right to disconnect could be implemented in the UK.

• The first is known as an enterprise agreement — essentially an agreement between an employer and a union to ensure employees can agree times during which they can and cannot be contacted.
• The second method would be through a directive approach, which means a legal framework is put in place to enforce a right to disconnect.
• The third method is a prescriptive approach, meaning a legislative or statutory approach is set out to tell an organisation what a right to disconnect would look like across different industries and sectors. 

Is a right to disconnect the answer?

What are your thoughts? There is much to like about the right to disconnect but there are grey areas too.  A right to disconnect would create boundaries between work and home but employees may put pressure on themselves to voluntarily work outside of their normal working hours, for example if they felt that their performance may be negatively affected by logging off on time or if they simply wanted to finish a piece of work they were in the middle of — wanting to finish a job in its entirety, clearing my head so I can start afresh the next day is definitely something that I do.

Some employees may wish to work flexibly to suit childcare arrangements or other commitments, so may want to work outside of core working hours. Would employers have to get written permission from such employees to show that the work was undertaken voluntarily and not enforced by the employer? Is it fair that some employers within certain industries would be exempt from implementing the right, for example the care sector where there may be a genuine need to contact employees outside of their contracted hours. What would stop exempt employers taking advantage? And entwined with the right to disconnect is flexible working and hybrid working, with employers needing to consider how this works in practice for their organisation and whether it needs further work to improve the work life balance for employees.

Further information and sources

• Autonomy: The right to disconnect
• Big Issue: What is the right to disconnect and does the UK need it to stop people burning out
• CIPD: Public consultation on the right to disconnect
• Eurofound: Right to disconnect
• FT Adviser: Would the ‘right to disconnect’ rules work in the UK
• Prospect: Right to disconnect – ensuring a fair work-life balance
• Shoosmiths: Should the UK government introduce the right to disconnect
• World Economic Forum: Right to disconnect – The countries passing laws to stop employees working out of hours
  

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