What we know about Labour's plans for 'right to switch off' for workers

The government has confirmed plans to give workers the right to switch off as part of the reforms to employment rights.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks to employees during a visit at a factory in Chester, England, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024.(AP Photo/Darren Staples, Pool)
Keir Starmer speaks to employees during a visit at a factory in Chester on 4 October. (AP)

The government has delayed its plans to give employees in the UK the "right to switch off".

The measure was expected to be unveiled in the government's Employment Rights Bill on Thursday, addressing a number of rights for workers in the UK, including the right to disconnect - or switch off - outside normal working hours.

Instead, it will be subject to a consultation, outlined in the government's Next Steps document on reforms it will look to implement in the future.

The right to switch off, preventing employees from being contacted out of hours except in exceptional circumstances, has been enshrined in law in Belgium and France.

And while the bill offers the more immediate prospect for workers of more rights around sick pay, maternity leave and zero-hours contracts, it appears the right to disconnect has been pushed further down the track.

Here's what we know about the plans so far, and what it would mean for workers in the UK.

The right to switch off means workers do not have to engage with correspondence from work - most commonly in the form of phone calls, emails or messages - when they are outside their contracted hours or on holiday.

It has become more of an issue since the coronavirus pandemic when millions of workers were forced to work from home.

Unions who represent the nation's workers say there are concerns about people's homes effectively being transformed into 24-hour workplaces because their employers may deem them contactable at any time.

In its Make Work Pay document - published in May two months before the general election - Labour pledged to introduce the right to switch off for UK workers, saying the pandemic had "inadvertently blurred the lines between work and home life".

It said: "We will bring in the ‘right to switch off’, so working from home does not become homes turning into 24/7 offices.

"Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and resilient, they need to be able to ‘switch off’ and that a culture of presenteeism is damaging to morale and productivity. Equally, workers know that there are circumstances where their employer may need to contact them, and some value the ability to work outside of conventional work patterns."

The party said it would "follow similar models to those that are already in place in Ireland and Belgium".

While the government has addressed the right to switch off in its Employment Rights Bill announcement, it does not look like there are plans to make it a statutory right.

This means there would be no legal requirement for employers to ensure their workers are not being continuously contacted outside their normal hours.

Beautiful mid adult blond woman working on laptop by the pool. 
Remote working, freelancer, small business concept
Modern demands mean staff are sometimes asked to work while on holiday. (Getty Images)

Instead, plans for the right to switch off get a cursory mention as part of a 'Next Steps' document which covers proposed changes to workers' rights the government says will not require a change of law and will instead be pursued through other means - in this case, such as through a "statutory Code of Practice".

“Delivery of these types of commitments will take place alongside the Employment Rights Bill’s passage and beyond Royal Assent," it adds.

Several countries already have a right to disconnect in place, but not all of them have the right enshrined in law, instead relying on employers to follow a code of practice.

France, which has a working week of 35 hours, brought in legislation in 2017 that means companies that fail to comply with the rules face a €3,750 fine and up to one year in prison for senior management. The law does not have a specific set of rules but rather asks employers and their staff to come together to decide what best suits their own working environment.

Companies with more than 50 staff must clearly define the working hours and negotiate policies with their workers.

Modern buildings surrounding Grand Canal Square in Dublin City, Ireland
In Ireland, the right to switch off is protected by a code of practice. (Getty Images)

Belgium also has a right to disconnect law, introduced in April 2023, which requires companies with at least 20 workers to set up an agreement - a law banning civil servants from being contacted outside normal working hours was established a year earlier.

The UK government could have followed its counterparts in Ireland, who also implement the right to switch off with a code of practice rather than legislation.

Ireland introduced its code in April 2021, and it includes a right not to work routinely outside of normal working hours and applies to all employers. There is no legal requirement for employers to have a right to disconnect policy, but the code recommends that they do so alongside their workers or unions.

Although it is not legally binding, the code of practice may be used in evidence in workers' claims against employers.

If the government does continue with the plans post-consultation, they could end up being a more watered-down version of what is currently proposed.

While there would appear to be no right to take their company to an employment tribunal over a breach of the right to disconnect alone, it is thought that employees may be able to use it as an aggravating factor in a connected claim - and that it could increase their compensation if they win the case.

A number of experts Yahoo News spoke to before the bill wss published highlighted concern with our the changes could play out.

Steph Marsh, head of employment at Coodes Solicitors, told Yahoo News: “Whilst the right to switch off has received support from some, many businesses have increased concern about how it will actually work in the real world.

"Unless the right to switch off becomes a statutory requirement, employees might struggle to actually enforce it, although businesses can implement a code of conduct to help distinguish the lines between home and work, especially for those working from home."

Adam Pennington, a partner in the employment law department at Stephensons Solicitors, indicated that some employees will feel the government isn't going far enough if the right to disconnect isn't backed by legislation.

He told Yahoo News: “The right to disconnect helps to set new boundaries and expectations between employers and employees. However, it can be argued that those boundaries have already been blurred by not making the right to disconnect a statutory requirement.

“Whilst a code of practice, or code of conduct, provides helpful guidance, it isn’t enforceable, meaning that in practice, this isn’t a ‘right’ to disconnect, but rather a ‘suggestion’."

“The only way an employee could potentially hold their employer to account is to argue that failing to implement a code, or failing to adhere to a code they have implemented, has breached the implied term of trust and confidence depending on the nature and extent to which they are expected to work outside their contracted hours."

But Alex Hall-Chen, principal policy advisor for employment at the Institute of Directors, told Yahoo News: “Ensuring a healthy work-life balance is in the interests of both businesses and employees, and right to switch off policies can be a useful contribution to making that a reality.

“Encouraging employers to implement right to switch off policies, rather than introducing a legal requirement, is more likely to allow them the flexibility they need to develop policies which reflect their specific circumstances."