Firms repeatedly contacting workers out of hours could pay thousands more at tribunals

Companies that persist in contacting their workforce out of hours could find they are liable for thousands of pounds in additional compensation in the employment tribunals. 
 
The Labour party has promised to grant employees ‘the right to disconnect, which means that managers will be prohibited from demanding that employees check their emails upon going home for the night. 
 
The Government is said to be considering how it may be able to boost the policy in question. Among the proposals that is currently being considered, if an employer has been established to have violated an undertaking to refrain from communicating with employees during other times than working hours, then he would be subjected to increased potential awards. 
 
The measure forms a part of a range of proposed reforms to the world of work that make up the party’s New Deal for Working People. 
 
Interestingly, the switch-off policy was left out of the King’s Speech but the Downing Street has remained pretty clear in its stand that it is serious about the switch-off policy. 
 
It will be implemented together with other measures such as the restriction on the use of exploitative zero hours’ contracts, which is aimed at stopping homes from becoming working hubs, 24/7, in the wake of the pandemic. 
 
But what proposals have Labour put forward for combating unemployment? 
 
The official opposition has pledged the most dramatic enhancement of employees’ protections in decades. 
 
Tentative measures are: introduce a single status of worker that will make all employees irrespective of their contract status be treated as having equal rights and privileges as regards sick days, child care and other holidays, parental leave and dismissal. 
 
It also wants to eliminate the qualifying periods for exercise of such rights, which at present is two years. It means new recruits would be eligible from day one in a job. 
 
Because of it, the party also aims to outlaw so-called fire-and-rehire practices. Precarious forms of employment like zero hours contracts would also be prohibited, so workers would have a guaranteed minimum number of hours and the party Labour has pledged a ‘right to disconnect’. This for instance means that the workers would not be compelled to open their emails or to take office calls during off hours and on the same note, the bosses would not be allowed to pressure the workers. 
 
The Times said knowing a member of staff and then making repeated calls to her outside working hours would unlikely lead to a tribunal on the same grounds alone. 
 
But it said that, under proposals being considered by the Government, such a breach could be referred to an employee within the context of a broader claim that he or she would be making and that might automatically warrant additional compensation. 
 
A government source told The Times that the exact way forward was still being hammered out, adding: This means that it has to be work place specific and since that is the case then this has to be something that is evolved among the business entities and their work force and not imposed. 
 
“That’s why we are aware of the adverse effects of such sorts of policies on the small scale industries. ” 
 
Labour has however assured the nation that it’s pretty keen on implementing the policy in a balanced manner. It want it to act in a way that would serve a objective of “encouraging a healthy work-life balance for all workers as a way of positively influencing productivity and motivation among the workforce”. 
 
Various concerns have been voiced suggesting that a ban on out of hours e-mails can hamper wages, the additional cost borne by businesses being transferred to employees.