From working on the sofa in your comfiest clothes to the freedom to get pesky life admin tasks done in between meetings, there’s no doubt that hybrid working has brought with it plenty of benefits. But, as many of us know also, it has majorly blurred the boundaries between work and home and made it harder than ever to truly check out.

Whether it’s a constant slurry of emails even after you’ve shut down your laptop or a boss who WhatsApps you over the weekend about something that could definitely wait until Monday, it can sometimes feel like there’s no escaping our jobs. Indeed, last year more than 31% of UK employees admitted that they do not have a good work/life balance, and a new government proposal is hoping to change that.

Following its initial campaign pledge, Labour has once again promised to introduce a “right to switch off,” which would allow workers to disconnect from their job outside of hours and refuse extra work during weekends. 

The change is inspired by existing models in countries like Belgium and Ireland, where employees already have the “right to disconnect” and not routinely be contacted by their employer or required to work outside of their normal hours.

“This is about ensuring people have some time to rest,” the prime minister’s deputy spokesperson said of the announcement. “Good employers understand that for workers to stay motivated and productive they do need to be able to switch off, and a culture of presenteeism can be damaging to productivity.”

But what could the right to switch off actually look like in practice? Would a working world with better boundaries mean that every email sent after 5pm could result in a claim?

As Elma O’Reilly, a HR expert and founder of Parallel London explains, the emphasis on not being able to be “routinely” contacted out of hours is important: “No one is going to get fired or sued for the odd emergency or last-minute fix.”

Instead, she says, it’s all about communication. “I believe the right to switch off can work once the proper plans are put in place,” she shares. “Companies need to be clear from the start about how it will work. If your job is in finance, you need to understand that the month’s end is always busy and may require extra commitment. The same goes for retail industries and Christmas. If you’re open about what needs to happen, and plan ahead, everyone can be prepared and not feel burned out by constantly being ‘on call’.”

However, she admits that the biggest challenge when it comes to the right to disconnect will be for those working at a senior level. “Many founders and CEOs have had a 24/7 commitment to their business modelled to them, often in a very unhealthy way, which then filters down, so that might be a hard mentality to undo at first,” she adds. 

Whether the right to switch off actually becomes part of the UK’s reformed workers’ rights remains to be seen, and only time will tell just how the new rules would play out in office environments. 

Images: Getty