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posted by on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:54AM   Printer-friendly
from the 10-weeks-vacation dept.

Do you leave work behind when you physically move out of your workplace? Or do the texts, messages, emails keep pulling you back, monopolizing your life beyond work hours? Do you believe that this can get to a point where an individual eventually breaks down?

These questions were answered with a new French labour reform law enforced from January 1 2017. It requires French companies with more than 50 workers to guarantee their employees a "right to disconnect" from technology after office hours. Companies need to start discussions with employees to define their rights to ignore work related messages. If a deal cannot be reached, the company must publish a charter that would state the demands on, and rights of, employees out-of-hours.

[...] Other countries too have attempted to address the issue of out-of-office work stress. In Japan, Tokyo's governor has ordered strict monitoring of those working beyond 8pm. A German law forbids managers from contacting employees on vacation. South Korea, known for its gruelling work hours, launched a work-life balance campaign last year to encourage annual leaves.

But despite these examples, most remain skeptical of such a law being passed in other countries, especially the U.S., where long workweeks and foregone vacation time are the norm. In 2015, the French worked an average of 1,482 hours a year, while Americans worked about 1,790 hours. U.S. workers not just get less vacation time than their European counterparts but also end up using only 73% of it.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @09:01AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @09:01AM (#514733)

    Here's my advice for a happy work life. Your mileage may vary.

    If you can honestly excel at something, then do so and demand excellent compensation and conditions in return for excellent performance. The conditions you set should include reasonable accommodation of your lifestyle. Because my desires were quite modest, this was easy.

    I'm retired, living modestly but quite happily happily. I worked hard for 40 years in a number of jobs, and always made a point of putting myself and my family first. I changed fields several times to reflect market changes and my own interests. I always took my vacations, and with good financial planning I was always in a position to tell a bad boss or company to go to hell. This transcended many boom-bust economic cycles and technological disruptions.

    Almost everyone is really good at something. It doesn't have to be cool or sexy, unless superficial status is your thing. I was just a common industrial automation engineer, but I was damned good at it and found jobs where excellence was needed and appreciated. When it seemed time to move on, I did. Because I could. Anyone can. You just need to make up your mind to it.

    Don't let the economy or changes in your field drive you. Roll with it, and just do what you do best. Don't sell yourself short. It's a big world, and somewhere, someone is willing to compensate you well for doing what they need. Be selective of opportunities and wherever possible negotiate your terms. Life is too short to piss it away on being miserable. Be the Pro From Dover at whatever you're best at. You owe it to yourself. You'll be happier for it.

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  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @01:14PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @01:14PM (#514791)

    You'd like to marry a cute little girl or two, but have set those desires aside and while your burning to death say "this is ok, everything is fine, being ruled by women is fine, kill paedos"

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @11:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @11:34PM (#515190)

    "I was just a common industrial automation engineer..."

    So you're the reason rock stars in so many fields can't find good jobs anymore! :-)