New report claims working late really could help you get promoted - so much for the 'right to switch off'

Date:
Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:15:00 +0000

Description:
Research into the emailing and messaging habits of employees reveals that breaking the work-life balance could get you a promotion

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter 70.8% of evening instant repliers were promoted in the last two years Promotion is 1.3x more likely
for instant replies than those who wait until next morning Millennials get
the biggest rewards for fast replies in research published by workforce solutions company Careerminds UK Achieving a work-life balance by disconnecting from work on an evening may be good for your peace of mind and family life, but it might just cause you to miss out on a promotion, a new report has claimed.

Research conducted for Careerminds UK found replying to that late evening message from your manager before you hit the sack can increase your chances
of a desirable new role. Its report found 7 in 10 (70.8%) respondents who admitted to being instant repliers got a promotion in the last two years, far more than the cohort that opted for an approach of let me live my life for a few hours. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: Millennial men message more Elsewhere, the research is split, with Millennials far more likely to
get promoted for evening communication than Gen Xers. This report emerges
just months after the British governments plans for a Right to Switch Off was put on hold.

Careerminds research found that, essentially, The slower the reply, the lower the promotion rate. Replying to out of hours messages immediately is a 70.8% promotion rate; replying within the hour drops the rate to 68.2%, while replying next morning is 55.1%. You may like New study says learning new AI skills is the key to a pay rise Nearly half of IT tickets now land after
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There is a gender split, too, with 79.0% of those quick responders in the
last two years listed as men, compared with 60.8% marked as women.

Also of interest is the generational difference. The research shows 86.0% of millennials with a fast response for responding to messages out of contracted hours were promoted, compared with 47.2% of Gen X employees (44 to 59). Gen Z employees gained promotion at a rate of 81.2%. Are you a pro? Subscribe to
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Interestingly, the quick-response-for-promotion effect doesnt seem to have
any significant advantage for entry level or director suite roles. Instead,
it appears to be focused around the middle of an organizations hierarchy.
What happened to the Right to Switch Off? Intended as a workplace reform to feature in the British governments Employment Rights Bill, the Right to
Switch Off was supported by unions, employees, and even business leaders. However, when the bill was announced, this key aspect was omitted, relegated to the governments Next Steps document.

Unfortunately, subsequent reports indicated that the policy would be
scrapped, with a government source telling The Sunday Times that the policy was dead. The reasoning? Reducing economic pressure on businesses including unnecessary barriers in order to make Britain the best country in the world
in which to do business.

For comparison, Ireland has had a similar rule for employees to ignore out-of-hours work messages since 2021, and France introduced the right to disconnect in 2017.

With the UK welcoming a new Prime Minister as of July 20, 2026, potentially with different priorities, it remains to be seen whether the Right to Switch Off can be switched back on. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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