Calls to ban out-of-hours work emails in “right to disconnect”

The trade union Prospect is now calling for the UK government to give employees a legally binding “right to disconnect”

The trade union Prospect is now calling for the UK government to give employees a legally binding “right to disconnect”, with many of its members warning that their mental health is being compromised.

With concerns that mental health is being compromised, this would ban bosses from “routinely emailing or calling” outside of set working hours.

Claire Mullaly, who is an IT consultant from Northern Ireland, argues that the situation facing her and millions of others in the UK working from home during the pandemic “isn’t sustainable”.

“Work has got more stressful over the last year,” says Claire.

“There’s a pressure to check emails, jump on video calls and to be on hand at all hours of the day, and it’s become harder to draw a line between work and home life.”

This comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that he will not hesitate to move countries off of the green travel list, but he could see “nothing in the data” to mean that the 21st of June easing of coronavirus measures can’t go ahead.

This wokers right would ban bosses from “routinely emailing or calling” their employees outside of set working hours.

Any emails that are sent at these times could also be automatically deleted in order to deter off-duty staff from feeling like they need to continually check their inbox.

“While digital technology has kept us safe during the pandemic, for millions of people, working from home has felt more like sleeping in the office, making it harder to fully switch off,” says Prospect’s deputy general secretary, Andrew Pakes.

The ONS (Office for National Statistics) has found that 35.9% of the employees in the UK did at least some of their work from their home over the last year.

This group, while saving time and money on commuting, did an average of six hours’ unpaid overtime each week, it has added.

The right to disconnect has been enshrined in law for four years in France, where businesses are asked to set agreed “specific hours” for “teleworkers”.

Ireland also brought in a new code of practice last month, in which companies should add “footers and pop-up messages to remind employees… that there is no requirement to reply to emails out of hours”.

Prospect, whose members include managers, civil servants, engineers and scientists, has said that it wants the UK government to set out similar protections within its Employment Bill, which is expected to be published later in the year.

“Burning people out isn’t good for workers or employers,” says Claire. “We’ve got to give people time to switch off and recharge.”

This comes after it was confirmed that Buckingham Palace will be marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a series of events that will take place next year, including a live concert that will feature some of the biggest stars in the world.

Bank worker Omar has said that no-one he knows thinks that they can be as productive when working from home as they are when in the office, where they are provided access to big screens, technology and are able to interact with colleagues.

And when working from home, he found that work takes over your life.

“You’re on your laptop before breakfast,” he says. “When you’re in the office there’s the journey in, buying a coffee, chatting to a colleague and sitting down at your desk at 8.30 or 9am.”

But both companies and lawyers have raised doubts over whether the right to disconnect in the UK is feasible at a time when many employees are themselves currently asking for flexible working.