The new deal for working people: The Right to Switch Off

This briefing sets out the policy options for a ‘Right to Switch Off’, a key component of the government’s New Deal for Working People, which would protect workers from out-of-hours communication from their employers.

Key findings:

• New polling commissioned for the report shows strong public backing for a ‘Right to Switch Off’:
• More than 50% of the public support the UK government implementing restrictions on employers contacting staff outside of working hours, with only 17% opposed.
• Although the government has pledged to implement a version of this policy during the current parliamentary term as part of its New Deal for Working People, crucial details about how the policy would work are still missing.
• Drawing on international precedents, this briefing therefore outlines two options for a ‘Right to Switch Off’:
• A ‘Soft’ option, which would allow workers to ignore communications from their employers outside of working hours.
• A ‘Hard’ option, which would both give workers the right to ignore out of hours contact from their employers and would penalise employers who contact workers outside of working hours.
• Finally, a draft amendment to the Employment Rights Act (made in consultation with a legal expert) is included as an appendix, offering an ‘off the shelf’ policy for the Government to deploy.

Will Stronge, Director of Research at the Autonomy Institute, said:

“Giving too much power to employers to dictate the terms of 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.”

Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, said:

“The Government has a real opportunity to help reset our work-life balance in this country by implementing the ‘Right to Switch Off’. However, if the legislation is not robust enough, employers will find it far too easy to simply ignore it.“The Employment Rights Bill should borrow from the best legislation in other countries, giving the state teeth to financially penalise employers who continue to hound their staff out of hours.”

Click the image below to read the full report.