London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Give people the right to switch off after work

Give people the right to switch off after work

Workers should be given the "right to switch off" when they have left for the day to ensure homes don't become "24/7 offices", Labour has said.

The party also wants employees to have the right to flexible practices such as working from home.

This would allow people to spend more time with their families instead of commuting, says Labour.

The government says it has no plans to introduce a legal right to work from home.

A spokesperson said: "The 2019 manifesto contains a clear commitment to consulting on making flexible working the default, unless employers have good reasons not to."

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said "as restrictions lift and we adjust to a 'new normal", we need a new deal for working people".

She said Labour's plans would "enable more people to enjoy the benefits of flexible working, from a better work-life balance to spending less time commuting and more time with their family."

"We cannot have a drawn-out consultation process that simply kicks this urgent issue into the long grass, leaving workers in a vulnerable position and allowing employers to dictate terms to their staff."

Labour wants the government to:

*  Give workers the right to flexible working, and for employers to accommodate this "as far as is reasonable and practical"

*  Implement a plan to support small and medium-sized businesses adapt to flexible working practices

*  Put in place new rights to protect workers from remote surveillance

*  Ensure "proper" sick pay and support for self-isolating workers is available

The right to disconnect has been law for four years in France, where companies with more than 50 workers are obliged to set out the hours when staff are not supposed to send or answer emails.

Fifty of the UK's biggest employers have said they do not plan to bring staff back to the office full-time

At the beginning of the pandemic, the government asked people to work from home if they could, and that guidance is still in place, despite the lifting of other restrictions.

However attention is now turning to what will happen when all Covid limits are removed.

An employee can currently ask to continue working from home but the employer does not have to agree to that request.

Some companies have found home working more effective and that reducing office space can save money.

A BBC survey conducted earlier this year found that almost all 50 of the UK's biggest employers did not plan to bring staff back to the office full-time.

Other business, such as cafes in city centres, have suffered from the lower number of office workers.

'Boundaries'


Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said his union supported flexible working but added that "'flexible' has to actually mean 'flexible', not simply moving work from the office to home with the same long hours, 'always on' culture."

"The challenge as we exit the pandemic is to make sure we build on the flexibility workers want and reset the boundaries between home and work life."

Earlier this week, Downing Street denied press reports it had plans to introduce a legal right to work from home.

The prime minister's official spokesman said that there were "significant benefits" to be gained from people working in the office and that it would set out its position "in due course".

The 2019 Conservative manifesto said it would "encourage flexible working and consult on making it the default unless employers have good reasons not to".

A Flexible Working Task Force is looking at non-binding advice for employers.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×