A new law in France starting New Year’s Day will allow workers "the right to disconnect” from their smartphones and from checking work emails after hours.
The new law corresponds to companies with more than 50 employees, and it is intended to tackle the “always-on” work culture, which leads to overtime as well as an intrusion in their private lives outside the office.
French workplace expert Xavier Zunigo told the Guardian that the law might not appeal to most workers because they don’t want to lose the "autonomy and flexibility” technology offers them.
According to the BBC, France has had 35-hour work weeks since 2000.
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The law was first introduced in 2015 when French's labor minister Myriam El Khomri issued a report warning that “info-obesity” could cause health problems.
A U.S. study, “Exhausted But Unable to Disconnect,” authored by three university professors, showed that not only does checking emails causes stress, but the anticipation of receiving an answer.
“What we find is that people who feel they have to respond to emails on their off hours become emotionally exhausted, partially because they can’t detach from work,” Colorado State University Prof. Samantha Conroy said in the study.
“They are not able to separate from work when they go home, which is when they are supposed to be recovering their resources.”
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