Scottish government agrees ‘right to disconnect’ policy

The Scottish Government has become the first UK public sector employer to implement a policy on a “right to disconnect”, agreed with the Council of Scottish Government Unions.

New guidance forming part of the 2022-23 public sector pay policy refers to a colleague’s right “to be able to disengage from work and refrain from engaging in communications outside their normal working hours to avoid an ‘always on’ culture”. Exceptions are where contact was expressly agreed in advance, workers are on call and extraordinary situations.

Staff should not be required to routinely perform work outside their agreed normal working hours and should not be penalised or pressured to routinely work outside those hours. Staff are reminded of their “duty to respect each other’s down time” by not phoning or expecting responses to emails or other communications outside of an individual’s normal agreed working hours, for example.

“This agreement, the first of its kind in the UK, is an important step on the road to reclaiming our home life from the encroachment of modern technology,” said the research director of the Prospect specialists’ union, Andrew Pakes.

He added: “Being unable to switch off is a huge cause of workplace stress which inevitably impacts performance and productivity.”

He called on the UK government and other employers to follow the Scottish Government’s lead.