99-42.727 4- Labor Chamber of the Cour de Cassation, 17 February 2004, No. “But I think that’s only because we sent the message first with the stricter policy and changed the workplace culture – that was very important.”, Critics say France’s legislation only obliges companies to negotiate with staff representatives each year and in the event of disagreement to sign a charter – and often such agreements are non-binding. Soc. Eurofound’s data suggests that far from “shirking from home” those remote staff are twice as likely as office-based workers to be exceeding the EU’s 48-hour working week. The right to disconnect concerns all employees. The rising pressure on employees has taken a terrible toll—including some work-related suicides.People began calling for action from the government. It won’t be plain sailing. “It was quite effective,” says Jérôme Bouchet, director of innovation and services. It was disturbing.”. In 2017, Italy enacted a law requiring employers to clarify their employees’ need to be responsive outside of normal working hours. The right to disconnect in practice . Early life and education. “All too often we see management by fear,” says Esther Lynch, the deputy general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which represents 45 million workers across 38 European countries. El Khomri was born on 18 February 1978 in Rabat.Her father is Moroccan and her mother is from Brittany. “The law has been a good thing,” says Caroline Sauvajol-Rialland, professor at Sciences Po Paris and author of the book Infobesity. By July, 48% of respondents to a survey conducted by the EU agency Eurofound said they worked wholly or partly from home. “I went in to get my laptop and then left,” says the 36-year-old, an office manager for a graphic design firm in Warsaw at the time. The scale of the vote in favour showed “there are real concerns”, Nicolas Schmit, the European commissioner for jobs and social rights, told the Guardian. Professor Anna Cox, a computing and work-life balance expert at University College London, says that deterioration in work-life balance is mostly down to pressure and insecurity created by employers’ use of tracking software. Purportedly, this came from the statement of DOLE Secretary Silvestre H. Bello stating that answering or ignoring texts, emails from employers after working hours is a voluntary engagement of an employee, and they are not obliged to respond or not. That led to a ruling in 2004 by the Cour de Cassation, France’s highest court, against an ambulance company’s decision to fire a driver for not answering his personal phone outside of working hours. You might need treatment from an addiction counsellor. France’s ministry of labour confirmed concerns when it published guidance in March reiterating that “the distinction between work time and leisure time must be clear and guarantee the employees’ right to disconnect”. But the new "right to disconnect", part of a much larger and controversial reform of French labour law, foresees no sanction for companies that fail to define it. “France became the first country in Europe to establish the right to disconnect rules. I find that France is very good for work-life balance,” she says. Labour experts also warn that while any EU legislation must be enforced it must also be flexible enough to take account of the needs of freelancers and workers who have parenting responsibilities and have no desire to return to the traditional nine to five. In 2017, the then minister of labour, Myriam El Khomri, concerned about information overload (or info-obesity as she called it) introduced a law that required companies with more than 50 employees to draw up a charter thatclearly set out times when staff should not send or answer emails – in other words the world’s first “right to disconnect” law. It … Business groups lobbied hard and won an amendment to the European parliament resolution that gives companies up to three years to implement voluntary agreements with social partners before any EU directive goes ahead. A Harvard study that analysed the emails and meetings of 3.1 million people in 16 global cities, found remote staff work 48.5 minutes more per day. During my break, my notifications were always on. The right to disconnect updates this declaration for the digital age. It’s been almost a year since France adopted the El Khomri Law, named after the then Minister of Labour Myriam El Khomri.It’s also been half a year since part of it went into effect on January 1st, and established a new human right in France – the right to disconnect. “We have to be careful over what we mandate,” says ETUC’s Lynch. Indeed, no legal definition of what is exactly the right to disconnect is given. It's … The modern working environment has been drastically changed by new communication and information technologies. A law proposed by French labor minister Myriam El Khomri would give workers the right to ignore professional emails and phone calls after hours. This was aimed at curbing the time employers could contact employees outside work hours. The right is generally described as a right for the employee to not be connected to a digital professional tool (email, smartphone…) during off-duty and vacation time. A recent survey of 34,000 workers by a coalition of French unions found 78% worked for companies that had not properly implemented the right to disconnect, 24% noted an increase in their workload during the pandemic and 30% were suffering from information overload. Nevertheless, the El Khomri Law leaves it to the employer to negotiate with employee representatives a company agreement, implement a company policy or, in appropriate cases, enter into individual lump sum remuneration agreements which will define, case-by-case, the parameters of the “right to disconnect”. However, the idea to enable an employee to disconnect completely outside of his working hours is not new in France. I hear from many people that they have much more time for themselves and a better work-life balance.”. “We don’t think there’s a legal need for it,” says Markus J Beyrer, the director general of BusinessEurope. The amendment to allow people "the right to disconnect" is part of the recently-enacted El Khomri law that contains multiple reforms to labor laws in France. The Loi Travail does not give a specific definition of the right to disconnect. All rights reserved. The law is also intended to ensure fair pay for work, and stave off workplace burnout. But the movement to legally protect leisure time is gaining ground. February 17, 2004 n°01-45889). These were later abandoned. Working from home can mean never being able to switch off, but could EU-wide regulation end the always-on culture? It’s completely changed the nature of how Europe works.”. This seismic shift in office life has brought about another social change, it has blurred the work-life boundary beyond recognition. France is introducing a 'right to disconnect' law, but it may struggle to get businesses in line. In Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Denmark, Portugal, Ireland, Cyprus and Italy more than half were working from home. “But we need to implement minimum requirements across Europe – and if member states want, they can go further.”. The law is meant to enforce and protect workers’ “right to disconnect.” Companies with more than 50 employees must set specific hours when employees should not send or respond to work emails. France became a trendsetter when it introduced the “El Khomri” law, proposed by the then labour minister Myriam El Khomri, in support of the right to disconnect. The right to disconnect was solidified at the beginning of 2017 with France introducing the El Khomri law, which suggests every employee contract must include a … “But it was also very constraining.”, The company loosened its approach in 2019, and staff now receive reminders in emails emphasising that they do not need to be answered out of hours. “France’s example has been very beneficial and a very good case study,” says Maltese MEP Saliba. “It’s left employees feeling like they’re being watched every minute,” she says. And, as of Jan. 1, a new law that gives French employees the right to disconnect. Proskauer is a leading international law firm focused on creating value. It has such an impact on workers, particularly those who are not high-status managers.”. France became a trendsetter when it introduced the “El Khomri” law, proposed by the then labour minister Myriam El Khomri, in support of the right to disconnect. However, the new “right to disconnect”, part of a much larger and controversial reform of French labour law, foresees no sanction for companies which fail to define it. Syntec). Wed 10 Feb 2021 12.35 GMT When I closed my laptop at the end of the day, I had notifications on my phone. “ICT-based mobile working has been growing for a decade,” says Tina Weber, research manager at Eurofound. Hopefully, it will set a precedent around the world.”. Since January 1 st 2017, companies have to implement the procedures for the exercise by employees of their right to disconnect, in accordance with the provisions of the Labor / El Khomri Act of August 8 th 2016 (Act No. In 1995, El Khomri studied public law at the Montesquieu University.She financed her studies with scholarships and holding several jobs. 2016-1088 of 8 Aug. 2016). According to the law, it belongs to the employers and the unions to negotiate this new right to determine its modalities of application and of control. Similarly, Philippines’ legislature has introduced a bill providing a right to disconnect after normal hours. Campaigners point to research showing rising levels of anxiety, depression, interrupted sleep patterns and burnout among the remote workforce, all of which they argue is partly a result of checking emails, keeping devices on and answering messages after hours. Such negotiation should take place in companies having at least 50 employees and should provide for the implementation of mechanisms of regulation regarding the use of the new technologies in order to ensure the compliance with rest times and holidays and the familial and personal life of the employees. That is a long time to wait, Schmit says, when there is a need for “a rapid response”. A new law, called El Khomri law, passed on August 8 th, 2016 in France providing a right to disconnect for employees.. “I did one day at the desk, one day sitting on the couch and one day in the bedroom,” says Zurowska. “They feel like there is an expectation to always be on call. Others found a happier medium with less extreme measures – banking group BNP Paribas and network provider Orange introduced rules – in 2014 and 2016 respectively – against contacting employees on weekends, evenings or during their holidays, that are still in place today. Proponents of reform say lessons can be learned from France. France's famous 35 hour week may not be as short as it sounds. EU research shows the numbers who went to full-time WFH mode rocketed from 5% in 2019 to almost 40% last spring. By subscribing to our blog, you acknowledge that you have read our, Overview of the UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, The French Government Responds to COVID-19, Further Guidance Published on UK’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, UK Government announce Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. “Some of my clients throw things at you last-minute. Companies in France are now required to stop encroaching on workers' personal and family time with emails and calls. WFH has clear pluses beyond comfortable clothes including greater workday flexibility, less time spent commuting and quality of life available outside cities. Further research published this month found employees working from home in the UK, Austria, Canada and the US are at their computer an extra two hours a day. To avoid adverse unintended consequences, lawmakers will need to ensure that the ‘right to disconnect’ does not oblige employees … They say that employment law needs to catch up with the changed realities. © 2021 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. However, it is not easy to impose the right to disconnect in a professional environment in which the “BYOD” concept has experienced a takeoff without precedent and which therefore has the consequence of dimming a little more the barrier between professional and private life. And in 2015, French Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri commissioned a study of the health impact of “info-obesity.” The following year, France adopted the “El Khomri” law, popularly known as the “right to disconnect.” “Perhaps parents would want to pick up their children from school, have family time and then work later in the evening – so we can’t set out fixed hours. In France, the El Khomri Law introduces the right to disconnect through Article 55(1), which amended Article L. 2242-8 of the Labour Code by adding a paragraph (7): The right to disconnect. “I had been working in an office for 10 years. All Rights Reserved. Myriam El Khomri, pictured in the French national assembly in 2016, introduced the world’s first ‘right to disconnect’ law. However, by sending back to the collective negotiation, the El Khomri law leaves it to unions and employers to guarantee the efficiency of such a right in a manner that matches with the way the company operates. A new law, called El Khomri law, passed on August 8th, 2016 in France providing a right to disconnect for employees. This law gave employees a right to disconnect from email. Right to disconnect posts of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) have been making rounds in the Internet last week. Should no agreement be reached with the unions defining the methods of implementation of the right to disconnect, the employer shall unilaterally elaborate, after having consulted the work’s council committee, a policy which shall need to provide for the training actions and sensitization to the use of digital tools. He said: “Do people really work more? It’s been really tough. “But the pandemic has been transformational. Myriam El Khomri, the labour minister, ... France may pass a law on 'right to disconnect' from work emails. But from day one I knew I didn’t like it.”, At first, Zurowska did her job from different areas of her home to stave off her feelings of malaise. more radically, by automatically redirecting the emails of the employees who are out of the office to an appropriate available employee or the interruption of the professional mailbox during evenings and weekends, or even during holidays. Almost a third of the remote army work in their free time several times a week – compared with fewer than 5% of office workers. Such right is entered into force on January 1st, 2017. “But as lockdown went on – one week, two weeks, three weeks – I became constantly connected. While we wait around for the legal right to disconnect, why not go ahead and do it ourselves? Although the EU’s Working Time Directive, introduced in 2003, stipulates minimum daily and weekly rest periods, and work-life balance is one of the 20 principles enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights, there is no right under EU law for those who work digitally to switch off outside working hours. But if you switch off people might think you’re lazy. The right to disconnect is a proposed human right regarding the ability of people to disconnect from work and primarily not to engage in work-related electronic communications such as e-mails or messages during non-work hours. In addition to New York, we have offices in Beijing, Boston, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Paris, São Paulo and Washington, D.C., as well as Boca Raton, Newark and New Orleans. “It’s a big win for European workers,” says Alex Agius Saliba, the Maltese socialist politician who proposed the non-binding measure. I hear from many that they have more time for themselves, Some employers think regulation is a step too far. It is 20 years since France introduced a 35-hour working week limit for companies with more than 20 employees – which later extended to smaller companies. However, the discussion did not focus specifically on the regulation of this right. Some, particularly smaller teams that know me well, might even contact me about work on Facebook or Instagram. If the title of this right seems simple, its exact nature questions. In the midst of the pandemic last year, he went freelance and was thrown into a state of panic to secure enough work to pay his bills. The loss of a clear work-life boundary has profound implications, particularly for women, who bear the brunt of childcare and domestic chores. So it was a new thing, working from home. Italian Law 81/2017 With the precedent set by the French El Khomri law, Italy passed a law concerning a right to disconnect in 2017, after a debate that began the previous year. “Here, the lunch break is sacred. Until the age of nine, she lived in Tangier.She then moved with her family to Thouars and then to Mérignac.. The boundary between work life and home life has … There would have to be a war or earthquake to stop it. Right now it feels like remote working is very unregulated.”, Your support powers our independent journalism, Available for everyone, funded by readers. And, as of Jan. 1, a new law that gives French employees the right to disconnect. “Sometimes my emails just explode at midnight,” says Richters. In France, there would have to be an earthquake to stop the lunch break, Zurowska, moved from Poland to France in July to start a job in the sales department of a paint company in Marseille and with work split between home and the office, has fewer complaints now. “The EU already has legislation in place protecting working time and health and safety in the workplace.”, Beyrer is unconvinced about the reported negative impact of remote working. In one particular case which involved the French arm of the British company, Rentokil, an employee was awarded €60,000 because his right to disconnect from email had been breached. Switzerland – New Gender Pay Gap Requirements, The Surprisingly Broad Scope Definition of Workplace Accidents in France, Ireland Supreme Court Analyzes Disability Accommodation Requirements, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Law Blog, Government Contractor Compliance & Regulations, Proskauer on Class and Collective Actions, by a reinforced information of the employees on the use of digital tools (, by the implementation of training actions or sensitization to new technologies (. Copyright © 2021, Proskauer Rose LLP. “There needs to be a clear obligation on employers to ensure the right to disconnect for their employees.”. It gives us flexibility,” says Bouchet. With 725+ lawyers active in virtually every major market worldwide, we are recognized not only for our legal excellence, but also our dedication to client service. “The lighter system works well now. The pandemic may have exacerbated the always-on pressure but it is also seen by campaigners as an opportunity to create a level playing field across the EU. Companies in France are now required to stop encroaching on workers’ personal and family time with emails and calls. Our clients include many of the world’s top companies, financial institutions, investment funds, not-for-profit institutions, governmental entities and other organizations across industries and borders. But the law is too light and many companies are ambivalent towards it.”. The EL KHOMRI Law aims at softening the legal upper limit of weekly work. Since enactment of the El Khomri law, more countries have enacted or considered similar legislation. This relative flexibility obliges them however to be imaginative and to find devices adapted to the nature of the functions occupied by the employees to the variety of the means of communication used, considering evidently the needs of each company. Photograph: François Guillot/AFP/Getty Images The law entered into force on 1 January 2017 3- Labor Chamber of the Cour de Cassation, 2 October 2001, No. According to the law, it belongs to the employers and the unions to negotiate this new right to determine its modalities of application and of control. RIGHT TO DISCONNECT AND THE EL KHOMRI LABOUR LAW Definition of the right to disconnect. Ireland and Luxembourg are in the process of legislating to protect remote workers. Digital technologies had already eroded the difference for many people but Covid put the always-on culture into overdrive. Work-life balancing act The legal duration of work remains 35 weekly hours, but this new regulation will allow employees to reach 44 weekly hours, and even 46 weekly hours within a period of twelve weeks, should this increase be prescribed in … And I’ve found nobody texts me or sends me emails outside of working hours.”. The European parliament voted overwhelmingly last month in favour of a resolution calling on the European commission to propose a law allowing those who work digitally to disconnect outside their working hours. “The result enables action to protect workers’ mental health, wellbeing and private life. “There’s this great challenge of lundimanche that we must tackle,” Sauvajol-Rialland says, referring to a French portmanteau word for the blurring of Sunday into Monday. Nobody needs a law to turn off their smartphone. We also represent individuals in transactions and other matters. Do people really work more? The same goes for freelancers, who have one of the most insecure forms of work. Groupe JLO is a French company that supports disabled workers into employment. But the downside doesn’t just involve Zoom fatigue: many people find they are working harder and longer. The “El Khomri Act”, Law 2016-1088 of 8 August 2016. The burden must be on employers to send the message that they won’t be discriminated against for taking rest.”. No equivalent law to El Khomri law exists in the UK yet: passing fresh legislation to deal with the issue will undoubtedly prove challenging. Burnout at work is a growing concern for the French government and the right to disconnect clearly aims at curbing such risk. Such right is entered into force on January 1 st, 2017. Zurowska is typical of millions across Europe who were suddenly thrust into remote working when the pandemic hit. For Grig Richters, a 33-year-old working in communications in Germany, such protection couldn’t come sooner. In 2004, the French Supreme Court had already judged that an employee could not be dismissed for serious misconduct due to the fact that he had not responded to professional solicitations during his lunch break (Cass. Furthermore, several collective bargaining agreements applicable in different sectors of industry had already provided for a right to disconnect (e.g. As such, the right to disconnect is not uniform and can materialize itself in several ways: The new law does not provide for any sanction in case of noncompliance, however, companies should take into consideration that employers failing to implement it will likely be sanctioned by judges on the basis of the necessity to preserve the health and safety of the employees at the workplace as well as the necessity to comply with working time regulations. Our roots go back to 1875, when we were founded in New York City. In 2017, the government of France introduced the El Khomri law which included ‘le droit de la déconnexion’ or ‘the right to disconnect’. The law takes the view that it is not up the employee to manage their work-life balance, but up to the employer to set appropriate limits and ensure that they are complied with. In Germany, which has no legislation but is considered to have forward-thinking policies at company level, large businesses such as Volkswagen have limited email server connections on evenings and weekends. Pioneers in France then tested radical approaches, such as the days without emails attempted by camera manufacturer Canon in 2010 and by food company Sodexo in 2013. REAL ID and Enhanced Driver Licenses: Are TSA Agents As Confused As We Are? Scope of application. bear the brunt of childcare and domestic chores. In 2015 it shut down its internet server and mobile connections between 7pm and 7am. Last modified on Wed 10 Feb 2021 15.12 GMT, When Poland went into strict lockdown last March, Natalia Zurowska barely had time to clear her desk at work. 01-45.889 ... A right to disconnect naturally cannot fix all organizational issues, but Other European countries including Spain and Italy have followed France’s example.
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