Since the start of the pandemic, more people have adjusted to working from home than ever before.

However, with lines between the home and the workplace becoming blurred, some have found it difficult to switch off, as the working day creeps into their personal leisure time.

To counteract this, there’s a growing movement that wants to create firm boundaries, such as employers not being able to contact their employees outside of work hours.

But what is the right to disconnect – and is it coming to the UK any time soon?

What is the ‘right to disconnect?’

Simply put, it is the principle that an employee should not be expected to manage work calls and emails, or communications with their bosses, outside of working hours.

This right allows people to switch off their devices, and not to feel pressured to give up their free time to work.

Furthermore, many iterations of this right also make it a requirement that employees following this rule cannot be punished for doing so, by way of being denied promotions or more time off.

As a response to the pandemic and its effects on working from home, Ireland put in place a code of practice for all employees in April.

The three key rights enshrined in the code are:

• The right of an employee to not have to routinely perform work outside their normal working hours.
• The right not to be penalised for refusing to attend to work matters outside of normal working hours
• The duty to respect another person’s right to disconnect (eg, by not routinely emailing or calling outside normal working hours)

Which countries have right to disconnect laws?

Currently, the right to disconnect rule, or its equivalent, is in place in several European countries.

The first legislation related to the right to disconnect appeared in France in 2016. Italy followed in 2017 and then Spain in 2018. Slovakia and the Philippines also have similar rules in place.

All have their specific variations, but essentially protect a worker’s right not to respond to communications from work outside of the company’s hours, and not to be penalised for this.

Is the UK government introducing it?

As of yet, the UK government has not indicated plans to make the right to switch off from work outside of normal hours a legal requirement. However, interest is growing and the government are being encouraged to introduce it from multiple sides.

A new report from Autonomy, a thinktank, has pointed to an ‘epidemic of hidden overtime’ from working from home during Covid – one that particularly affects women.

A previous study carried out by the group, alongside Compass and the 4 Day Week Campaign, found that working from home during the pandemic had disproportionately impacted women’s mental health, and that women are 43% more likely to have increased their hours beyond a standard working week than men.

The report also included a proposal of draft legislation that would create a ‘right to disconnect’, based on French law – in this, it states that employees do not have to take calls or read work-based emails during their time off.

In a survey carried out by workers’ union Prospect, 59% of all workers supported the introduction of a right to disconnect while 17% opposed. Furthermore, among new remote workers, 66% were in favour and 14% were against.

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