The new “right to disconnect” law mandates that a company with
50 employees or more cannot email an employee after typical work hours.
If you’ve ever been with
friends or family members over the weekend then received an urgent email from
work, you’re aware of the dread that fills your stomach and causes your mood to
dip. Being unable to fully disconnect from work can have mental and physical
health implications, which is why unwarranted
contact by the workplace is soon to become illegal in France.
Already, the country
gives its employees 30 days off a year and 16 weeks of full-paid family leave;
this latest initiative is only making France more popular. According to BBC News, the new
“right to disconnect” law will mandate that a company with 50 employees or more
cannot email an employee after typical work hours. The amendment is largely a
result of studies showing that people have an increasingly difficult time
distancing themselves from the workplace.
Good relays that
the law seeks to make sure the French citizens are able to fully enjoy their
time off. Said Benoit Hamon of the French National Assembly:
“ALL
THE STUDIES SHOW THERE IS FAR MORE WORK-RELATED STRESS TODAY THAN THERE USED TO
BE, AND THAT THE STRESS IS CONSTANT. 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 COLONIZE THE LIFE
OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO THE POINT WHERE HE OR SHE EVENTUALLY BREAKS DOWN.”
Stipulations of the new
law include that companies must negotiate policies that limit the spillover of
work into the private lives of their employees. There are no penalties for
companies that violate the amendment, but the businesses are required to
establish “charters of good conduct” that specify the times which employees are completely free
from being contacted by their workplace.
When the law was first proposed, it received plenty of criticism
and mockery. According to Linh Le, a partner at Elia management consultants in
Paris, however, the amendment is necessary, particularly because it could
benefit citizens’ mental and physical well-being. She says that burnout,
described as ”physical, psychological and emotional distress caused by a total
inability to rest”, can result from never being fully free from work, which is
why time away from the office is required.
Some are concerned that
the amendment – passed as part of a controversial French labor law – will weaken unions and
enhance employee job insecurity. It is worth noting, however, that the digital
disconnect amendment was the one part of the law that’s been viewed favorably
by French citizens.
Source TrueActivist.com