Benjamin Rowe CITP MBCS reflects on how being in a position of 24/7 accountability for his IT infrastructure has impacted his life. He asks whether Labour’s suggested ‘right to switch off’ can fix work-life imbalances.
For the past 30 years, my phone has been glued to my side. My family, friends, and partner have all understood that when it rings, and there’s a significant work-related issue, I must deal with the problem.
Over the years, I’ve worked for many different employers. Some provided me with an employment contract that was clear about when or if I should pick up my phone out of hours. Other working arrangements were vague. What’s more, though there have been times when I’ve been paid for my time out of hours, they were few and far between.
Part of me wants to be the first contact point. After all, this is my infrastructure, network and servers, and I hold them dear. If they fail, I want to be there immediately to find out why and get them up and running again. Never mind that the business needs them up and running; I want to ensure my kit is ticking over again.
Always on call
For decades, ‘if something happens, IT will be there’ has been an unwritten rule. I’ve had my fair share of two am fault-finding sessions in data centres, recovered crashed software, and located lost data. I can empathise with IT workers whose phones ring well before the alarm clock.
With all this in mind, I was quick to take notice when the new Labour Government suggested it would introduce a ‘right to switch off’, an idea aimed at allowing workers to separate their home and work lives. The move aired in the party’s Plan to Make Work Pay, published before the election and where Labour set out its proposed workers’ rights reforms.
The document states: ‘We will bring in the ‘right to switch off’, so working from home does not become homes turning into 24/7 offices. We will follow similar models to those that are already in place in Ireland or Belgium, giving workers and employers the opportunity to have constructive conversations and work together on bespoke workplace policies or contractual terms that benefit both parties.’
Workable or even desirable?
Of course, this prompted me to ask myself, ‘How is this going to affect us and our industry?’ Is the right to leave that mobile phone ringing and unanswered desirable, practical, or even achievable?
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The whole premise of the ‘right to switch off’ is for employees to have some downtime and address the imbalance that the rise of remote and hybrid working has brought about. However, with the ever-connected world, 24/7 expectations, and remote, flexible work becoming more prominent, the people who rely on our systems demand higher and higher uptimes. Where will our downtime come from?
This is less of an issue for the big companies as they often have outsourced remote support, but for the small players — the education academies that can’t afford extensive operations — what do they do when the teachers and lecturers turn up in the morning, and systems have failed? What about startups? Where do they fit into this? These are the people that would be most affected, or should I say the businesses that will suffer the most. How could they operate smoothly without the funds or the resources to run a 24/7 IT operation?
Many details have yet to be ironed out, but it is expected that the UK Government will look to aspects of the Irish and Belgian models to form its code of practice, requiring companies to put tailored policies in place.
Be part of the conversation
Ultimately, the decision will be with us, the IT teams. We must help our businesses decide what’s right and strike a fine line between workplace requirements and our need to restore work-life balance. Commercial expectations must be weighed against intrusions into our personal lives.
The government is still in consultation about this legislation, although it may be included in the Employment Rights Bill, which is expected to be published in October 2024. Multiple news outlets and sources recognise that legislation will likely come into force next year. In the meantime, we should watch closely and actively participate in the discussion, as we need our involvement to influence the policies we will ultimately need to work with.
