Will your office ever leave you alone?
Just say “non. ”
That’s how many French workers might channel Nancy Reagan, as they celebrate the introduction of a new law on January 1 that allows them to finally ignore their bosses.
Well, at least ignore their bosses’ emails out of hours.
As Agence France-Presse reports , this so-called “right to disconnect” demands that all businesses with more than 50 employees negotiate new rules of online engagement with their workers.
It’s common, and not just in France, for bosses to think that employees can be emailed at any time of day or night. After all, the ease and ubiquity of technology has made us always-on creatures.
The trouble is that such constant work pressure has made human moods tend toward the always-off. Psychologists have already raised the alarm that the constant work emailing can be, quite simply, toxic to emotional health.
Why should we be thinking about work when we could be fixing dinner and moving on to a little Netflix-and-chill? Does it make us more productive? Or does it simply make us more tired and angry?
As with so much in France, the intention here is noble, but the practical aspects invite closer scrutiny.
