Right to work from home would need a new 'right to disconnect' law

By Forbes Solicitors

03 Jun 2020

emma-swan.jpg

Potential new legal right for people to work from home would need a ‘right to disconnect’ law to protect workers’ mental health Right to disconnect law exists in France and means workers can switch-off phones and emails outside working hours  Right to request flexible working will be more realistic approach for a new generation of agile workers 

If the government approves a legal right for people to work from home, it will also need to create a new ‘right to disconnect’ law, according to legal experts.  

A ‘right to disconnect’ law would be needed to protect the mental health of a new generation of home workers, whilst also enabling companies to fulfil their duty of care to staff and not be exposed.

No such disconnect law exists in the UK, but one was introduced in France at the beginning of 2017. This isn’t just for home workers. It means that companies have to allow employees to switch-off work mobiles and emails outside of their contractual hours.

A similar law in the UK would require employees to disconnect from their work devices and networks when they’re not working, which would avoid the blurring of personal and professional lives, as people increasingly work in their homes.

Emma Swan, head of commercial employment law at Forbes Solicitors, explains: “Under UK employment law, employers have a duty of care to protect the health and wellbeing of staff. This will become increasingly challenging if more people are working at home.

“The pressures of remote working, home-schooling and the current health and economic challenges could significantly impact people’s mental wellbeing and it can be difficult for employers to spot the signs of this without regular face-to-face contact. A right to disconnect law would go some way to stopping people working in their free time when they shouldn’t be. This needs to be carefully balanced with employers’ ability to offer flexible working from home around the current challenges.”

A right to disconnect law would be difficult to introduce. It would need to consider the practicalities of employees continuing to work offline outside of working hours, even though they were supposedly disconnected, and could also present challenges in terms of monitoring employee data. 

Daniel Milnes, a governance and information law partner at Forbes Solicitors, says: “While a right to disconnect would preserve non-work time for employees, it’d probably require employers to monitor what staff do during this time. Such monitoring does not require employee consent as it would be associated with workplace health and safety – a category the right to disconnect falls into. Data protection policies would also have to be taken into account, with time limits placed on when data should be processed electronically, and disciplinary policies considered accordingly for any breach of the disconnect rules.

“The French law first applied to home-workers and then to all employees in businesses with over 50 staff. Debate has already started about whether an employee who has got home after a day working in an office or travelling is any less deserving of protection than someone who has worked the same hours from home. There’s also a consideration about whether working agreed overtime is any different to dealing with emails after usual working hours.  

“It would certainly be difficult to monitor how employees disconnect and could create the unusual position of employees trying to conceal when they were working. Managing a right to disconnect with rigid hours, even if negotiated business-by-business as in France, will present significant challenges to employers.”

Rather than a right to work from home, it could be more practical to allow employees the right to work flexibly. This would avoid any immediate need for the introduction of a right to disconnect and provide both staff and employers with a more balanced approach to managing health and wellbeing.

Emma Swan concludes: “There are already Flexible Working Regulations in existence. Adapting these would be more practical for everyone, rather than trying to pass two very new and untested laws. This could help companies and their staff to better blend workplace and remote working, proving beneficial to employee health and wellbeing, and how companies support their employees with maintaining a work-life balance.”

Latest news

1

University recognises adidas curator Gary Aspden

University recognises adidas curator

11 Jul 2025

2

Investment drives growth plan at CoolKit Coolkit Vans

Investment drives growth plan at CoolKit

11 Jul 2025

3

Story Homes submits plans for 140 new homes in Longton Story Homes plans

Story Homes submits plans for 140 new homes in Longton

11 Jul 2025

4

University of Lancashire climbs 14 places in student positivity survey Happy students at ULAN

University of Lancashire climbs 14 places in student positivity survey

10 Jul 2025

5

Forbes Solicitors achieves strong growth and promotes 15 Forbes Solicitors promotions

Forbes Solicitors achieves strong growth and promotes 15

10 Jul 2025

Background image for hub sign up block

LBV Hub

Leverage Lancashire Business View platforms

Post your news
Post your events
Post your offers
Build your network
Improve your SEO
Gain coverage in the magazine
Sign-up
Events
LBV123 July/August Launch Event
Lancashire Business View magazine launch
Networking
16 Jul 2025

LBV123 July/August Launch Event

Burnley College University Courses Building, Burnley, BB12 0AN

08:30 - 10:30

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025
BEC 315 X 315 Px
Networking
25 Sep 2025

Lancashire Built Environment Conference 2025

Blackpool Football Club, Blackpool, FY1 6HX

08:30 - 13:00

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Management and Leadership Course

Preston Campus, Preston , PR1 2HE

09:00 - 17:00

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course
UCLanAerialCampus.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Seminars
21 Feb 2025 - 21 Feb 2026

CMI Level 5 Project Management Course

Preston Campus, Preston, PR1 2HE

08:00 - 17:00

Shaping Preston's future by remembering its past
1750160034867.png.png
LBV Hub Networking
16 Jul 2025 - 16 Jul 2025

Shaping Preston's future by remembering its past

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 20:30

Chamber Summer BBQ
LBV Hub Social
17 Jul 2025 - 17 Jul 2025

Chamber Summer BBQ

The Borough, Dalton Square, Lancaster, LA1 1PP

17:30 - 20:00

Preston Tech Connection: Web3 is Dead. Or is It?
July Longer Banner.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
29 Jul 2025 - 29 Jul 2025

Preston Tech Connection: Web3 is Dead. Or is It?

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

18:00 - 19:30

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: July
Longer July Banner.jpg.jpg
LBV Hub Networking
31 Jul 2025 - 31 Jul 2025

Preston Freelancer Meet-Up: July

Society1, Coworking Space, Preston, PR1 3LT

10:00 - 11:30

Cumbria Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-880461633-4862066883-1-original.20241022-110415.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Exhibitions
19 Sep 2025 - 19 Sep 2025

Cumbria Business Expo 2025

Carlisle Racecourse, Carlisle, CA2 4TS

09:00 - 15:00

North West Business Expo 2025
https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-880456273-4862066883-1-original.20241022-105445.jpeg.jpg
LBV Hub Exhibitions
24 Oct 2025 - 24 Oct 2025

North West Business Expo 2025

Bolton Stadium Hotel, Bolton, BL6 6SF

09:00 - 15:00

Lancashire Business Day 2025
241122lbvlancashiredaylhp0647web
Networking
27 Nov 2025

Lancashire Business Day 2025

Burnley FC , Burnley, BB10 4BX

12:00 - 17:00

Advertise with us

Reaching 50,000 members, our print, digital and event platforms offer a fantastic way to raise your business profile and help you grow.

Find out more LBV122 Online Graphic
Subscribe now

Weekly news bulletin