Employees in France begin 2017 with a new freedom dubbed the “right to disconnect”.
The new legal right will mean that employees will not be obliged to deal with business emails, texts or other messages outside of defined working hours.
The new employment law demands that companies in France with more than 50 workers must enter into negotiations which will guarantee employees’ right not to have to respond to communications at certain times.
Advances in technology have too often meant that workers have felt tied to mobile communication devices such as iPads and smartphones, unsure of their right to funnel responses into working hours. The “always connected” work demands have impacted on relationships and family life as well as resulting in a rise in frequently unpaid overtime.
"All the studies show there is far more work-related stress today than there used to be, and that the stress is constant," member of parliament Benoit Hamon said. "Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash - like a dog. The texts, the messages, the emails - they colonise the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down."
The French initiative seeks to put in place agreements that allow for flexibility in working outside the office but curbing the potential for burnout.
Companies will now have to reach agreement with employees on their right to switch off or disconnect out of business hours in order to minimise the intrusion of work demands into private time.
