Right to disconnect: What can the UK learn from other countries?

Published: 3 October 2024 | by: Rocio Carracedo Lopez, international legal editor at Brightmine

The UK Government is seeking to introduce the right to “switch off”, which will allow workers to disconnect from work and not be contacted by their employer outside working hours. Labour has indicated that it intends to follow the models in Ireland and Belgium but with the details of the legislation still unclear, what clues can employers glean from these and other countries’ approaches to the right to disconnect?

Under UK legislation, there are specific rules setting out minimum rest periods and maximum weekly working hours to protect workers’ health and safety, but workers can opt out of the right to work a maximum 48-hour week and work longer hours.

However, UK working time legislation was not designed to cope with the recent boom in remote and hybrid working, which can lead to workers failing to disconnect from work at the end of the day or tempt them into checking their emails while on holiday. This is problematic for employers and employees alike because a lack of clear boundaries between work and home life can negatively impact business productivity, harm staff wellbeing and disrupt family life.

The Government has pledged to give employers and workers the chance to “have constructive conversations” and “work together on bespoke workplace policies or contractual terms”. At this stage, however, it has offered very little detail on their plans, although it has said that it is planning to follow the Irish and Belgian models.

How has Ireland enacted the right to disconnect?

In Ireland, the right to disconnect comprises three main components. These are:

• An employee’s right not to routinely carry out work outside normal working hours.
• An employee’s right not to be penalised for refusing to attend to work matters outside normal working hours.
• The duty to respect another person’s right to disconnect from work.

A code of practice sets out best practice in relation to the “right to disconnect”. This states that a joint employer/employee approach is needed to create a culture in which employees feel that they can disconnect from work and work-related devices.

In line with relevant working time and health and safety legislation, employers are required to:

• Provide detailed information to employees regarding their working time.
• Ensure that employees are informed of what their normal working hours are reasonably expected to be.
• Ensure that employees take rest periods.
• Ensure that there is a safe workplace.
• Not penalise employees for complying with any relevant provision or performing any duty or exercising any right under the legislation.

The code of practice recommends that employers draft a right to disconnect policy, setting out the procedure for raising concerns and the obligations of employers and employees. A failure to comply with the code of practice is not an offence but the code is admissible in evidence in proceedings before a court or the Workplace Relations Commission.

For more information, see our Ireland country guide.

How has Belgium approached the right to switch off?

Employees have a general “right to disconnect”. Private sector employers with at least 20 employees must give concrete form to this right through formal written provisions. These may be laid down in a company-level collective agreement or in the employer’s internal works rules, and must cover:

• Practical ways in which employees can exercise their right to disconnect.
• Instructions on the use of communication devices to ensure that rest periods, leave and private life are respected.
• Training on the sustainable use of email, phone calls and messages and the risks of excessive connection to work.

Under Belgian law, there are no sanctions for employers that have not implemented the right to disconnect. However, employers do have general obligations in relation to wellbeing at work and a right to disconnect forms part of these. Therefore, if employers do not comply with these obligations, they could face criminal or administrative sanctions.

For more information, see our Belgium country guide.

What are other countries doing?

A number of other countries around the world have taken steps to tackle the “always on” culture.

Many countries give employers a certain amount of leeway, allowing contact in the case of emergencies and the ability to tailor their approach to their own particular circumstances.

What can UK employers expect from upcoming rules on the right to switch off?

In Ireland, there is a code of practice on the right to disconnect, whereas in Belgium, legislation has been brought in. At this stage, it is unclear what path the UK Government will take but reports suggest that it is likely that there will be a code of practice agreed upon by employers and employees.

In Ireland and Belgium, employers need to establish a written policy or include information in the collective bargaining agreement or work rules. It looks likely that UK employers will need to work with employees to create workplace policies about the right to disconnect.

There are some key questions that remain unanswered:

Whatever approach is taken, employers should be thinking about the best strategies they can put in place to prioritise work-life balance. These might include carrying out assessments to detect any unhealthy practices and employees who are showing signs of struggling with long hours; establishing core working hours across the board; or setting clear expectations about when employees should respond to emails or calls outside core working hours.