Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

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


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday May 24 2017, @03:18PM (1 child)

    by FakeBeldin (3360) on Wednesday May 24 2017, @03:18PM (#514840) Journal

    If it has the word "social" in the name, that should be a clue to you.

    I'm always surprised by how rabidly opposed to anything affiliated with the word "social" (some) Americans seem to be.
    Is the USA really that proud of being anti-social?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday May 24 2017, @07:02PM

    For most of its history, yes. We've preferred individual liberty over the illusion of collective security.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.