Government proposals to introduce an employee ‘right to switch off’ outside work hours needs to incorporate flexibility, according to the CIPD.
The employer body has called for the rights to be developed in consultation with employers and include flexibility around when organisations can contact staff in certain circumstances.
Ben Willmott, CIPD head of public policy, said: “It’s important that any new ‘right to switch off’ is introduced with sufficient flexibility to enable employers to contact employees outside normal working hours where unforeseen circumstances require this, for example due to sickness absence.”
Code of practice
“It seems most likely the government will introduce this new right through a code of practice,” he explained, “which should allow employers to develop approaches which work for both them and their staff.”
Willmott also said that there would be “different demands” for flexibility in regard to this right that would depend on the sector and the nature of an individual’s job. He said that these things would need to be recognised in the code of practice.
He continued: “Developed in the right way, in consultation with employers, such a code can help promote what is already adopted as good practice in many organisations and support workers’ work-life balance and wellbeing.
“Employers will need to ensure they have clear policies which are aligned to any new code, clarifying the circumstances where managers can and cannot contact staff outside their usual working hours.”
