‘Right to disconnect’ | Should it be illegal to contact staff out of work hours?

The number of hours employees have been working has spiked throughout the pandemic, with several studies indicating that remote working has encouraged more overtime.

In fact, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) previously found that people working from home during the pandemic were putting in an average of six hours of unpaid overtime a week.

Similarly, analysis by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from the Labour Force Survey revealed that more than three million UK employees on average worked an extra 7.7 hours per week during 2020, equivalent to £7,300 per person in unpaid overtime.

This increase in hours sparked concerns over burnout and struggles to switch off from work, particularly in the UK over the last year.