Northern Ireland moves ahead with new right to disconnect

Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy has published its response to the ‘Good Jobs’ consultation – a wide-ranging plan to modernise employment rights and bring Northern Ireland more closely into line with Great Britain. It’s big news for HR teams with staff in Northern Ireland, signalling the most significant shake-up of employment law there in over a decade.

One of the more eye-catching proposals is a new right to disconnect – the right for employees to switch off from work outside normal hours and not be penalised for doing so. It’s an issue that gained traction during the pandemic and has since become a talking point across Europe. The idea is to protect employee wellbeing and guard against the ‘always on’ culture that’s grown with hybrid and remote working.

The proposed changes mark a significant development for employers in Northern Ireland, particularly because there is currently no equivalent right to disconnect in Great Britain and it is not mentioned in the Employment Rights Bill which is currently going through parliament. The Northern Ireland Executive is taking a different approach, closer to developments in the Republic of Ireland and several EU countries, where disconnection rights have already been introduced.

The Department’s response paper, The Way Forward, sets out its intention to introduce a statutory Code of Practice on the right to disconnect. This won’t be hard law, but employers will be expected to take it seriously. Tribunals will be able to take the Code into account when considering claims — for example, in relation to working time breaches, flexible working disputes, or constructive dismissal.

The Code will encourage employers to agree clear parameters around out-of-hours working – for  example, when employees are expected to be contactable, how emails should be managed, and how urgent matters are handled outside the normal working day. It’s not a blanket ban on working out of hours – it’s about clarity, communication, and mutual expectations. The aim is to support better work-life balance and reduce mental health risks, particularly in sectors where long hours or blurred boundaries are the norm. For employers, this means reviewing existing policies, looking at flexible and hybrid working arrangements, and engaging in meaningful dialogue with staff.

So let’s hear more on that. Earlier I caught up with Belfast-based employment lawyer Laura McManus to discuss it. So what’s changing?”

Laura McManus: “So what's changing is there's going to be a statutory code of practice. It's not legally binding, but it is going to carry weight in tribunals and it's important now to take a look at our policies – are they fit for purpose? In terms of a right to disconnect policy, it's something that we should be looking to introduce now. How is it going to work in practice? What are our expectations? You'll often see in emails and, indeed, it's something we have in our emails, and I love to see, which is, we support agile working - just because I'm sending it at this hour it doesn't require a response. I think that's really important to share especially with more junior members of staff who are starting out in their careers and it's that belief that because email is instant the response has to be instant. So to go back to the policy, and what HR can do, it's very much about taking a look at what the expectations of the business are. What are the needs of the business? What's our need and what's our expectation? Where is our space to ensure that our people can disconnect, they can take their holidays, they can take their weekends, they can take their evenings, to ensure that they are properly rested and can come back into work the next day giving us their best working self.”

Joe Glavina: “This is also about recruitment and retention, isn't it Laura? So attracting and retaining the best talent?”
Laura McManus: “Absolutely. I mean, flexibility, in a lot of surveys has come out as being one of the number one drivers for people, for applicants. I can certainly say for me as well, it was a key question, you know, what is your flexibility? What is your hybrid policy? It’s understanding that there's a life outside of work and whilst we want everyone to bring their best working self and focus on work while they're here, we have to understand that there are other pressures outside of work, whether that be child care, whether that be caring responsibilities for family members, whatever it is, employees should have the ability to disconnect from work and engage in those other claims on their time.”

The Northern Ireland government’s response paper is called ‘The Way Forward’ and was published on 28 April. It sets out in detail the outline proposals for a new Employment Bill which will cover not only the right to disconnect, but also zero hours contracts, holiday pay and trade union access and recognition. Laura has already talked to this programme about zero hours and holiday pay and those programmes are available now for viewing from the Out-Law website. We’ve included a link to both of them in the transcript of this programme for you.

LINKS
- Link to HRNews programme ‘Northern Ireland confirms crackdown on zero hours contracts’
- Link to HRNews programme: ‘NI aligns holiday pay with GB but omits two-year backstop’
- Link to ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Rights Bill – The Way Forward