Your Right to Disconnect — Directions Coaching

Do you struggle with your working hours creeping into personal time?

Do you wish you could turn off your mind?

Empowered to switch off from work? 👍 👎?

The UK government is set to launch new Employment Rights soon to provide workers with more rights.

Its proposed to cover sick leave, maternity, zero hours contracts and more. Some will potentially be enshrined in law.

One that I have mixed opinions on is the right to switch off from work, the right to disconnect, outside normal working hours.

Its origins for this UK government are from the pandemic when people’s homes became their places of work too.

There was little differentiation between work and personal and the environment of work was all in the home.

International Experiences

The UK is not the first country to consider this. France led the way with this law in 2016/17 for companies with over 50 employees. Italy followed in 2021. Belgium and Spain in 2022 allows employees to ignore work communications outside regular working hours. Kenya is considering it.

The US does not have national legislation concerning the right to disconnect, but companies like Nike, Citigroup, and Salesforce have experimented with internal policies encouraging a better work-life balance by limiting after-hours work communications

The province of Ontario in Canada passed a “right-to-disconnect” law in 2022, requiring employers with 25 or more employees to develop policies around after-hours work and respecting personal time.

Is Disconnecting Even a Problem?

* Worsening: 60% of UK employees feel that work-life balance has worsened, especially due to increased remote work since the pandemic, according to a study by the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development),

* Burnout: 77% of UK workers experienced burnout, largely due to blurred boundaries between work and personal life, according to Deloitte.

* Relentless: Over 40% of UK workers claim to be “always-on” or working outside of normal hours due to the inability to disconnect from emails and tasks after hours.

* Mental Health: 37% of UK employees reported that remote work had negatively impacted their mental health due to an inability to separate work from home life (ONS/Office of National Statistics survey).

* Increased Hours: on average, remote workers in the UK put in an additional 6 hours per week compared to those working in the office, ONS study

Why Disconnecting Is Important

There is widespread research illustrating the importance of disconnecting from work and the negative consequences of not doing that.

* Stress: A study by the British Heart Foundation found that 81% of UK employees don’t take regular breaks, and those who skip breaks report higher stress levels and a greater risk of mental health issues.

* Productivity Drops: Research shows that not taking breaks leads to a productivity drop of around 20% over the course of the day, with employees often feeling fatigued by mid-afternoon.

* Financial Impact: The negative impact on mental health due to overworking or not taking breaks costs UK employers £45 billion annually due to lost productivity, absenteeism, and presenteeism (Deloitte study).

* Anxiety: Lack of boundaries and the inability to disconnect from work-related communications increases the risk of mental health issues like anxiety and depression by 30–40% (Mental Health Foundation).

* Satisfaction: Continuous availability for work decreases overall productivity, with 42% of employees reporting lower job satisfaction due to an inability to switch off (CIPD).

* Employee Retention: Lack of work-life balance has led to an increase in turnover, with 24% of UK employees considering changing jobs due to burnout or poor work-life boundaries (Glassdoor survey).

And despite all those compelling stats and studies I don’t like this law.

Here’s Why…

Who Is Affected?

This right to disconnect only applies to a subset of workers.

Typically, it’s addressing office workers.

Those who are accessible outside of their physical place of employment.

It also assumes normal working hours. What does normal mean?

Working hours for self-scheduled workers can be so different.

Even my grocery delivery driver has set hours, except if they finish their deliveries early they can end their shift. Hence why some of the deliveries I book for 11pm-midnight get delivered at 10pm after they call me to confirm that’s ok.

My Bug Bear

I’m triggered by this right based on experiences I’ve had in WhatsApp groups.

I’ve been in WhatsApp groups where one individual has asked not to receive emails after 11 PM or before 7 AM. It was prompted by an email sent about 1am by someone one day.

The issue is that the WhatsApp group was a multinational group. And he was asking for other people to make considerable effort to know his schedule and his time zone to cater to his preferences.

He went on to explain it was because he needs sleep, his aging parents might have an emergency and he has to be accessible.

How would his preference have changed if he wasn’t in London that day and instead was visiting NYC?

Who’s Responsible?

Building on the above, whose responsibility is it to set normal hours?

My colleague in the WhatsApp group above felt it was everyone else’s responsibility to meet his preferences, although he would call it a need.

I’m a Canadian, living in London, lived in Switzerland with friends, clients and colleagues around the world.

What time zone do I operate in?

The answer is it depends.

Depends on where I am, where the person I’m communicating with is, what the topic of the discussion is. So I guess I operate in all.

What’s Better?

I think self-determination is better.

When are you contracted to work?

What are your responsibilities work wise and when/how do you need to achieve those?

When are you at your best?

I believe setting your own work “boundaries,” within what you’ve contractual agreed, is better than having to have your employer do it.

You know best when and how you like to work to fully deliver your requirements. Plan your time accordingly.

I’m self-employed. I’m a night owl, not a morning person. So, I typically don’t book client calls before 9:30am. I wrote most of my book, Soft Skills HARD RESULTS, between 3:30–7:30pm as that’s when the words flowed.

And I’ve had sessions at 8pm with clients from the west coast of Canada and 8am from Australia.

What Has Your Boundaries Blur?

Do you find yourself checking emails at night?

Look At Yourself

What has you check your emails at night?

If it’s because you left mid afternoon to go see your child’s football/soccer match then login in “after hours” might be warranted.

If it’s because you are worried you’ll miss something, be seen as not committed, worried about being too slow, then look at yourself.

What are the drivers or saboteurs that are causing you to keep connected?

Beyond a crisis, certain roles, and emergency situations — are you really required to be on 24/7?

If not, what has you not disconnect yourself?

The answer to that would make these laws unnecessary.

How to Get Better?

1. Set Clear Working Hours

2. Create a Physical Workspace

3. Use Technology to Reinforce Boundaries

* Turn off notifications
* Utilize “Do Not Disturb” features
* Use separate devices for work and personal use ideally
* Use shared calendars: Block out times when you’re unavailable or off work in shared calendar.

4. Set a Ritual for Starting and Ending Work

* Start with a morning routine: Begin your workday with a consistent routine-like making coffee, taking a short walk, or reading. This signals the start of your working hours.
* End with an evening wind-down: Create a clear “end of the day” ritual, such as turning off your computer, making a to-do list for the next day, or exercising.

5. Take Regular Breaks

6. Limit Access to Work During Personal Time

7. Enforce Weekends and Vacations

* Take time off seriously
* Plan digital detoxes: Periodically engage in a “digital detox,” where you completely disconnect from work and digital devices, especially on weekends or holidays.
* Use auto-responders: Set an out-of-office message even for shorter off periods (weekends or days off) to enforce the boundary.
* Decline non-urgent requests: Learn to say “no” to non-essential tasks or requests that come in after work hours. If necessary, suggest alternatives for handling them,

8. Establish Boundaries for Remote Work (Family/Friends)

10. Leverage Company Policies or Advocate for Change

11. Engage in Non-Work Hobbies

* Develop hobbies or activities outside work: that take you away from your computer or phone-like exercise, reading, or creative projects.
* Set a cut-off time for work-related thinking: If you find yourself thinking about work outside of hours, practice mindfulness or journaling to mentally “close the loop” on those thoughts.

12. Seek Accountability

* Find an accountability partner: Partner with a colleague, friend, or family member who can help remind you to respect your boundaries.
* Track your habits: Use apps or journals to track when you overstep your boundaries. Regularly review your progress to see where improvements can be made.

By setting clear expectations, using technology to help enforce boundaries, and developing rituals that reinforce separation, you can effectively manage work-life balance and reduce the risk of burnout.

Don’t wait for your employer or the government to manage your health, productivity and life, take control for yourself.

The Right to Disconnect is sadly needed as there are some people who can’t manage their boundaries and employers who need to be restrained unfortunately.

I yearn for a world where such laws aren’t needed as respect and responsibility are consistently at the forefront.

What would help you set boundaries for yourself?

What do you want for your personal and professional balance?

Contact me here to carry on this conversation…

Originally published at https://directions-coaching.com on October 15, 2024.