The right to disconnect
Lesson plan overview
This Business ESL lesson is related to the so-called “right to disconnect” laws, which aim to limit how much an employee can be contacted outside working hours. Students will talk about availability in the age of technology, work-life balance, and after-hour communications, and will use passive structures “be required to”, “be expected to”, and “be advised to” to talk about company rules and policies. You might also like the lessons “Labor unions“, “How to get promoted“, “The importance of company culture“, “Detox from social media”, “Quiet quitting“, “Phrasal verbs: job performance“, ans “Idioms: burnout”.
Speaking: The lesson starts with a survey students complete in pairs about how much they are contacted outside working hours. Then, they discuss 5 questions related to technology in the workplace, and how it has affected our ability to disconnect from work.
Vocabulary: Next, students learn a few topic-related expressions, such as around the clock, on the clock, work-life balance, to unplug, to be reachable. To practice, they are given a few talking points, and are asked to complete 5 sentences with the correct expression.
Listening: Next, students watch a video called “New bill aims to give Californians better work-life balance”, and answer 5 questions. After that they engage in a post-listening discussion.
Grammar: Students learn and practice the passive structures to be supposed/required/advised/expected to + verb. After a brief explanation, students are given a few examples of how to use these structures to talk about company policies and rules. Then, they discuss their company’s policies.
Word formation: Finally, ti review the target vocabulary from this lesson, students are to complete 5 sentences with the correct form of the word given.
For more speaking practice, you can use the conversation cards.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
All video-based ESL lesson plans include online pre-class activities, which are FREE and can be completed without registration. Perfect for teachers who wish to embrace the blended learning approach. By providing students with resources and engagement opportunities before the actual class session, educators can foster active participation, enhance comprehension, and optimise in-class discussions.
The pre-class activities are optional: if you choose not to assign them, or your students don’t complete them, it will not disturb the flow of the class. You can find and review the pre-class activities for this lesson plan here:
To send the pre-class activities to your students, copy the link below.
In-class activities
To download the PDF files for this lesson, you need to have an active Premium or Premium + subscription.
Browse FREE lesson plans here.
Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
Unlock these resources with one of our subscription plans
Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Not sure yet?
Try one of our FREE lessons plans
Share this lesson plan with someone who will find it useful