a San Francisco lawmaker wants to help curb the constant ringing and pinging that his region helped create. New legislation from Assemblyman Matt Haney would make his state the first in the country to give employees the legal right to hit the ignore button on their phones when the boss calls after hours. Emails, texts and other work communication could also be put off until workers are back on the clock.
Mr. Haney, a Democrat, got the idea from Australia’s new “right to disconnect” law, to be implemented later this year. It will allow workers to reject “unreasonable” professional communication outside of their regular workday. The idea originated in France and has spread in various forms to countries including Canada, Italy, Belgium and the Philippines. New York City debated a similar proposal in 2018, but didn’t adopt it.
Remote work, which the coronavirus pandemic helped to normalize for many workers, can make it more difficult to put a firm stop to the workday, Mr. Haney said.
“People now find themselves always on and never off,” he said. “There’s an availability creep that has reached into many people’s lives, and I think it’s not a positive thing for people’s happiness, for their well-being, or even for work productivity.”
California law also requires employers to provide overtime pay, paid family leave, paid sick leave, reimbursement for business expenses, and mandatory meal and rest breaks. It also has broad anti-discrimination and anti-harassment protections that go beyond similar laws in many other states.
Mr. Haney’s bill, which would probably go to a legislative committee for consideration this spring, would require public and private employers to establish a policy granting workers the right to ignore off-hour communication from their bosses except in the case of emergency, or for scheduling changes affecting the next 24 hours.
@9KY6LGG8mos8MO
Government has no business doing this.
@ISIDEWITH8mos8MO
What I found during Covid as a department head, and I was fine with it, is that the remote work gave people the opportunity to get things done during the day that when they were in the office or place of business 9-5 they couldn't. Personal life got better. Work still got done but it was the time of day that changed as people could decide to work after dinner, early in the morning, or after the kids went to bed.
If they implement this law what it will do is move more organizations to require you to be in the office every day, 9-5, just like before. The work still has to get done, question… Read more
@PopulistMantisDemocrat8mos8MO
This is the kind of progressive stuff that provokes backlash, even from common-sense liberals.
As an attorney and CPA, I'm in a client-drive service business where responses are often required at odd hours, often because of externally imposed deadlines. If I call one associate who refuses to answer, I'll look for another that does, and whether consciously or subconsciously, I'm going to favor the latter associate as being one who's responsive and committed.
@JusticeVenisonSocialist8mos8MO
Similar legislation banning work-related emails (calls, or contact) after work hours had been on the books in France and Germany since 2017. Only in America, where workers' rights have been steadily eroded since Reagan and beyond, are we still "debating" the right to time off.
Perhaps the solution is to make acceptance of non-business hours calls a trigger for an additional payment by the company. Say an hour's salary at overtime per call answered, with each call answered counting as a separate instance.
The additional costs could be tracked to a particular manager/phone number, should the company have questions about the necessity of the calls or the amount of additional cost incurred. Minimizing this additional expense, absent emergencies of course, might provide incentives for management and employers to plan better overall.
I was on call for a good bit… Read more
@QuicheBillLibertarian8mos8MO
If I get a call in off-hours, I know it’s absolutely an emergency and will pick up. I’d say none of my colleagues calls another unless it’s an emergency. What’s at issue here is common sense. If anyone were to regularly abuse the ability to reach another colleague in off-hours, they wouldn’t last long. We don’t needs laws for this.
@DemocraticTerryGreen8mos8MO
I didn’t think I needed permission to not answer my phone when I’m not at work. It goes to voicemail.
Is this a California thing?
If communication is exchanged after work arrangements, it should be considered a rare courtesy for an emergency type situation.
@ISIDEWITH8mos8MO
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