The government is currently considering how to implement its election promise to give workers the right not to be contacted outside of working hours: the ‘right to switch off’. The BBC has reported that the Prime Minister’s deputy spokesperson said that the right to switch off is ‘about ensuring people have some time to rest. Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and productive they do need to be able to switch off’.
The right to switch off has been implemented in several European countries, including France, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland and others. Rules may include prohibiting after-hours phone contact and clearly stating that after-hours emails do not need to be replied to until the next day, and penalties may include fines or claims against the offending business. Some countries only apply the right to switch off to companies above a certain size.
The UK policy is likely to involve agreements between employers and employees that set out when staff can expect to be contacted, according to the Times. The government approach will allow for agreements to be specific to each workplace as ministers are aware of the disproportionate impact of the policy on smaller businesses. The Times reported that while the government ‘is likely to insist on companies over a certain size having to agree [to] a code of practice, it will not dictate what should be in any agreement’.
Staff who are repeatedly contacted outside of their working hours could receive significant compensation under the new right, the Times reported. While breaches are not likely to give rise to a standalone right to bring a claim in the employment tribunal, a failure to follow the code could act as an aggravating factor when determining the amount of compensation to be awarded in as part of another claim. It is expected that employers breaching the right to switch off could boost workers’ compensation by up to 25%, in line with current penalties for employers breaching ACAS codes of practice.
The right to switch off is part of a range of reforms to workers’ rights set to be introduced by the new government. The government’s pledges include a ban on zero-hour contracts, an increase to minimum wage and ending fire and rehire practices. The government has also confirmed its plans to repeal the Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Act 2023. Many of these new measures will be tabled in the Employment Rights Bill, which is expected in September.
In addition to a right to switch off, employers can reduce the risk of work-related stress, depression and anxiety by implementing the following measures.
- Ensuring staff are not overworked and have sufficient break times.
- Arranging support for staff through their managers, their peers and the organisation as a whole. Staff should know this support is available and how to access it.
- Ensuring staff have a clear understanding of their role.
- Providing regular constructive feedback.
- Establishing policies and procedures for dealing with bullying and harassment.
- Informing staff about when, how and why you are making any changes to the business that will affect them.
- Having informal discussions with staff to assess their mood and talk through how they approach their tasks.
Extra care should be taken with regard to remote workers as they can become easily isolated. The following steps can help to prevent poor mental health in remote workers:
- Encouraging remote workers to come into the office regularly (eg at least once per week).
- Including them in work socials.
- Providing helplines for IT support.
- Setting up communication systems to keep in touch with remote staff during the day (eg instant messaging, phone calls and video calls).
For more guidance on how to combat stress, depression and anxiety in staff, see Staff working from home and Staff mental health.
Where staff members take unacceptable levels of sickness absence due to work-related stress, you may need to consider taking further action to address the issue. See Dealing with sickness absence for further information on how to handle staff absences resulting from stress.
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Marion joined Sparqa Legal as a Senior Legal Editor in 2018. She previously worked as a corporate/commercial lawyer for five years at one of New Zealand’s leading law firms, Kensington Swan (now Dentons Kensington Swan), and as an in-house legal consultant for a UK tech company. Marion regularly writes for Sparqa’s blog, contributing across its commercial, IP and health and safety law content.