Few would disagree that the boundaries between work and home life are becoming increasingly blurred as a result of developments in information technology and social media, but should the UK consider adopting something similar to France's latest plans?
It has been reported that the French government is about to vote through a measure in Parliament that would give French employees the "right to disconnect".
The proposal is that companies with 50 or more staff introduce a policy prohibiting employees from sending or responding to emails outwith normal working hours, generally in the evenings and at weekends.
President Francois Holland's Socialist Party say that the intervention is needed to address the growing, universal problem of permanent connection and associated work related stress. The issue was summed up by French Socialist MP Benoit Hamon: "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 individuals to the point where he or she eventually breaks down".
Whilst such a policy might be implemented with best intentions and welcomed by many, how easy would it be to police? How will exceptional circumstances when out of hours responses are urgently required be dealt with? Will staff be disciplined for responding to an urgent work-related matter after office hours? Will core working hours be increased as a result?
In the UK employees have the protection of the Working Time Regulations to protect them from excessive working hours, protections under health and safety legislation and many employers have stress management systems in place. France has similar protections and feels it needs to do more. However an interesting contrasting case has recently been commenced in France:
An employee took a case to an employment tribunal claiming he was given so little to do at work he suffered "bore out". Frederic Desnard claimed that his managerial job at a perfume company was so tedious that he became exhausted and literally bored out of his mind. Mr Desnard said that his "descent into hell" was similar to a burn out, but less interesting. He said that he was "ashamed of being paid for doing nothing". He was absent on grounds of ill health for 7 months before he was made redundant and now seeks €360,000 (£282,000) in compensation.
If you have any concerns regarding working time management or out of hours social media use, please do not hesitate to contact the MacRoberts Employment team for advice.
Disclaimer
The material contained in this article is of the nature of general comment only and does not give advice on any particular matter. Recipients should not act on the basis of the information in this e-update without taking appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.
