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What are your rights at work?

Journalist: Esther Shaw, Freelance

ended 20. February 2024

I'm writing a piece for the Telegraph in the context of Labour's employment law reform, which has several proposals including introducing a 'right to switch off' and not be contacted outside of working hours… and also greater access to flexible working etc

In my piece, I want to have lots of different sections explaining what your current rights are, with the help of some employment experts.

For example, as I understand it, employers are already obliged to offer flexible working to some extent? 

And what about ‘being contacted outside of working hours?’ What are the rules on this? Is it something which is commonly mentioned in employment contracts?

Also, as I understand it, countries such as France, Ireland and Australia have either already introduced - or are set to introduce - the 'right to switch off' policy – can you give a sense of whether or not such policies have been successful?

 Can you then briefly outline a few more important ‘rights at work’… along similar lines. 


thanks so much

 

 

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Adam Myers
Head Of HR Consulting at Stellamar
I run a People, Culture and HR consultancy, so would like to think we have this right. My team are able to work where and when they want, as long as what they need to do gets done. We work to outcomes, not the office and clock. We have fostered a culture of mutual respect, so our WhatsApp and slack channels go quiet at the times you would expect. Flexibilty and work life balance are only becoming more and more sought-after, so employers that are going in the other direction will fail to attract and retain talent. With respect to the recent announcement of 'rights to switch off' in other countries, I suspect this is another knee jerk move designed to help attracting talent. The senitiment is right, but the key will be in delivery and leadership of this. "Ignore your boss when they text" will simply end up causing more issues.
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Alastair Hoyne
CEO, Finanze Capital at Finanze Capital
Attracting and retaining talent is as much about the culture of an organisation as it is about remuneration and career progression. Recognising the importance of work-life balance, we employ flexible working arrangements across our divisions. Our team enjoys the freedom to design work schedules that enable them to accommodate personal commitments alongside business requirements. Thus far it has served us well. In the 2 years since we've been established, we've experienced exponential growth and although we've also had to adapt, this is a working model we expect to maintain. With downtime, boundaries are important and need to be respected. The 'right to switch off' is essential. Plans should be in place for exceptional circumstances of course, especially in dynamic environments, but care needs to be taken so that this doesn't become the 'norm.'