Downing Street has said it will press ahead with plans to give workers a “right to switch off” despite the proposal not being mentioned in the King’s Speech.>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE
Labour intends to ban bosses from requiring workers to respond to emails when they have signed off for the day to try and combat a “culture of presenteeism”.
In its proposed New Deal for Working People, which formed a core part of its election offer, Labour vowed to introduce a “right to switch off” for employees, allowing them to ignore work-related messages outside of their contracted hours.
The policy, which sat alongside flagship pledges to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts and make flexible working the default from “day one”, was intended to prevent homes from “turning into 24/7 offices” in the wake of the pandemic.
But it did not feature at all by name in the King’s Speech on Wednesday, prompting questions about the party’s commitment to the pledge.
On Friday, Downing Street made clear that Sir Keir was intent on delivering the plan but suggested it would take some time to develop.
Asked if it was still going ahead, a No 10 spokeswoman said: “As we said more broadly on the King’s Speech, it’s not the limits of our ambitions or all of the Government’s work. These are the first legislative steps.
“But more broadly, the Government is committed to making work pay and ensuring that working people are protected from exploitative practices and also are supported to ensure that employees are assisting them to be as productive as possible.”
She said “good employers” understand that workers “need to be able to switch off”, as that is “good for productivity”.
But she said that “of course situations may vary” and there will be some circumstances where staff need to be reached out of hours.
It has been warned that the ban on out-of-emails could risk pushing down wages, with the extra cost burden on businesses passed onto workers.
The No 10 spokesman said the Government is looking at “different models of measures that have been put in place in different countries that support productivity and work flexibility”.
“But equally we’re also very aware that these matters are for individual employers and different people’s circumstances and businesses’ circumstances will vary,” she said.
She added: “We understand that it is good for people to be able to switch off, that’s positive for productivity, and that is the driving motivator here. But as I said, no decisions have been taken. We’re looking at different models and we’ll update in due course.”>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE
