Would Europe’s “Right to Disconnect” Law Work in the United States?

Today’s post comes to us from Kate Bischoff, employment attorney at k8bisch, LLC.? ? Ever since I got to my big-kid career, the only time I have ever been completely disconnected was when I was between jobs. I remember distinctly taking my then-husband and almost two-year-old to London for a few days and not having to check a phone or email once. It was glorious.? ?

These days, if employees are given a company mobile or even required to download an app on their own phone, employees are connected 24 hours, seven days a week. They can reach out to a manager at any moment if need be and vice versa. It is this vice versa — the employee’s manager contacting them — that may mean employees are never really “away from work.”? ?

However, a trend sweeping across Europe and spreading to other parts of the globe is attempting to create more space between work and life.? ?

Several years ago, France had an idea. What if employers were prohibited from contacting employees after work hours? Would workers be more engaged during work hours if the specter of looming work emergencies were not held over them during their “free time”? The answer appears to be yes. Shortly thereafter, several other European countries, including Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Ireland, followed suit for some workers. Kenya is considering it, and Australia just enacted similar provisions that would not allow an employer to penalize an employee for their refusal to engage in contact outside of working hours, provided the employee’s failure to engage is reasonable.? ?

Notably, whether an employer should be prohibited from contacting an employee outside of working hours is not a topic here in the United States. Instead, conversations about limiting working hours by moving to a four-day workweek are making headlines, even if new rules are unlikely. But, if disconnection from work was a thing, it is possible that many off-work hours would truly be off work.? ?

There’s no question that, in every sector, employees are experiencing burnout and making sure they get time away from work to rest, spend time with family and friends, and tend to their personal needs is important. But, it is highly unlikely that the United States would enact a law prohibit after-hours contact anytime soon. That said, employers could focus on making after-hours contact much more limited on their own, driving up employee satisfaction.? ?

Here are some tips on how to do just that:?

1. Identify real emergencies. If an employee knows they are only going to be contacted in a true emergency, then when they get a call or email during their off time, they are better prepared to handle the situation because the situation itself should be a relatively rare occurrence.?
2. Embrace email scheduling. Every email system has the ability to schedule when an email is actually delivered. Managers should know all about this and make it their practice to not send emails at all hours of a weeknight or weekend. While it might be jarring to log into work with a bunch of emails from a manager, it is better than getting pinged over a weekend and having to worry about them while pushing a kid on a swing or during a pick-up basketball game with buddies.?
3. Set expectations. Everything in work comes down to expectations. Setting the expectation of when an employee is expected check their phone, email, or app should be a top priority for managers and employees alike. Open and relatively judgment-free communication is key here. If an employee is on their own time (whether it is after hours or paid time off), that employee should know what is expected of them, if anything, and managers should be open to hearing that the employee is willing to give their time and attention during work but not during their off time. While most everyone will appreciate emergencies, the expectation should be that once the employee is off, the employee is off — unless the expectation is clearly set otherwise.?

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Like most employment laws, the laws prohibiting contact after work are just trying to set a floor for how employers can treat employees. Employers outside these jurisdictions can do the same on their own, making life a little easier for employees without the threat of a new law. They can see the benefit of making sure employees get their own valuable time while still meeting the needs of the organization.? They might even be better for it.?