The French are an awfully greedy bunch, aren’t they? Not only do they have a monopoly on all the good wine and cheese, subtle tailoring and sexily insouciant men, they now also have a rule which means that they’re legally obliged NOT to check work emails from their boss after 6pm. It’s not fair is it? Greedy greedy greedy.
A ground-breaking labour agreement has been signed, obliging workers to disconnect from their work smartphones at clocking-off time. The legally binding deal, which has been signed by employers’ federations and workers unions representing millions of works in the digital and consultancy sectors, says that employers should be left completely alone when they leave the office. Staff will ordered to switch off their work emails and businesses will be required to ensure that workers are under no professional pressure to check their emails after six. The statutory agreement would affect some high profile tech companies like Facebook, Google, PwC and Deloitte.
As Michel De La Force, chairman of the General Confederation of Managers, put it, ‘We must measure digital working time. We can admit extra work in exceptional circumstances, but we must always come back to what is normal, which is to unplug, to stop being permanently at work.’
We know how much of a minefield replying to work emails after hours is – you know that, strictly speaking, you’re not supposed to do it, but you also know that you boss is aware of the fact that you’ve got an iPhone, so if you don’t respond they know you’re probably ignoring them. And don’t forget that time you accidentally replied all to a team email because you were slightly (very) pissed at 10pm on a Thursday...
So, in summary, we’d most definitely be in favour of having this law make it’s way over the channel. And they can bring the wine and cheese with them as well while they’re at it.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophiecullinane
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.