Plan to restrict contact between employers and employees outside working hours “supported by the public”

New research shows that most people support the government's plans to ban employers from contacting their employees outside working hours.

Only 17 percent of the 2,000 adults surveyed were against this move.

The poll, conducted by Survation and commissioned by the think tank Autonomy Institute, found that support is highest in the southeast.

Autonomy called on the government to adopt laws from France and Portugal that provide for fines for employers who ignore this rule.

In France, the highest court has fined employers for violating the law.

Will Stronge, research director at the Autonomy Institute, said: “If you give employers too much power to dictate the terms of the new 'Right to Switch Off' legislation, there is a risk that this policy will fall by the wayside.”

“A broader and more comprehensive right to disconnect would go a step further.

“As in France and Portugal, this law would not only give workers the right to ignore their employer's contact outside of working hours, but it would also penalize employers for ignoring the spirit of the law and contacting workers repeatedly.”

By Alan Jones, PA Industry Correspondent