California considers "right to disconnect" bill to prevent bosses contacting workers out of hours

[midian182]

A hot potato: Many modern jobs don't stop when employees are off the clock. Plenty of people are forced to engage with their bosses, whether through email, text messages, phone calls, or other communication methods, outside of normal hours and on days they are supposed to be off work. But a new 'right to disconnect' bill could regulate this practice in California.

If passed, Assembly Bill 2751, introduced by assemblymember Matt Haney of San Francisco in February, will give employees the right to disconnect from communications from their employer during nonworking hours.

The bill would require nonworking hours to be established in a written agreement between the employer and employee. It would mean that the employee has the right to ignore any communications from an employer received during these times. The only exceptions would be for emergencies or for scheduling reasons. The San Francisco Standard reports that collectively bargained employment agreements like union contracts would supersede the right to disconnect.

The California Department of Labor will enforce the law, handing out $100 fines to employers for every incident where they contact employees outside of agreed working hours.

Average number of working hours per year, via Clockify

The bill has not yet been passed or signed into law. It has been referred to the Assembly Labor Committee to be heard.

After France became the first to do so in 2017, similar right to disconnect laws have been introduced in more than ten countries, including Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, and Spain. California would be the first US state to offer workers these protections, though if the bill passes, it would likely encourage other states to follow suit.

"If you're working a 9-to-5 job, you shouldn't be expected to be working 24/7. That should be available to everyone, regardless of the existence of smartphones," Hanley said.

Hanley noted that California becoming the first US state to introduce a right to disconnect law would be fitting, given that so many of the technologies used to contact workers all hours of the day were created in Silicon Valley. But the bill is unlikely to be met with much enthusiasm from tech companies and startups that prioritize always-on-the-clock work schedules over any form of work-life balance.

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California considers "right to disconnect" bill to prevent bosses contacting workers out of hours

 

[MasterAce]

”Should be available to everyone”, except employers themselves.

 

[The Talking Tech]

But then companies at the time of being hired will ask you "if you would like to" sign a form in which you would "agree and consent" to be contacted after work hours.... because once your signature is there they aren't technically breaking that law.

 

[wiyosaya]

In this day and age, when it is well-known that the need for sleep and rest (taking time away from work and its problems) often results in the mind resolving those problems, and its relentless quest for profit, it says a lot about that quest and how much it's valued that a law like this is even remotely required, IMO.

Nevertheless, it is required because some companies seem to think that if they employ you, they also own you and your life.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

This is why my personal property is not tied to my work life. My personal property and personal info is mine. Under no circumstances are my employers allowed to use these things without my consent.

My cell phone - I do not use it for work (no one at my job, aside from my direct supervisor has my cell phone number and she is only allowed to reach out to me if it is an emergency) nor allow to have work email tied to it. I don't use it in any form or function for work related stuff. If a company I work at wants me to have my work email on my phone, they can kiss my *** or they can provide me with a phone through work that will be used only during my working hours. My personal property is just that, mine. I have had to butt heads with managers in the past about this - them getting upset that I wouldn't use my personal cell phone for work related stuff. I'd tell them to stuff it and get me a work cell phone if they want me to use a cell phone for work.

If I am contacted during my days off or PTO and they ask for me to work, I will oblige as long as they understand they are now paying me for my time (be it normal hours or overtime) and any PTO hours I am working will not be deducted from my PTO pool. If they can't do this then I can't work.

Lots of people have a problem with telling employers, "No." I don't. It's something I have to keep reminding my wife and kids about. It's okay to tell people, "No." Even tell them to F off if it comes down to it.

 

[MasterAce]

But then companies at the time of being hired will ask you "if you would like to" sign a form in which you would "agree and consent" to be contacted after work hours.... because once your signature is there they aren't technically breaking that law.

Atleast here in Finland employees are not really allowed to decide for themselves. Whatever the unions have negotiated holds, and anything else lands employers in legal trouble.

 

[wiyosaya]

My cell phone - I do not use it for work (no one at my job, aside from my direct supervisor has my cell phone number and she is only allowed to reach out to me if it is an emergency)

Which reminds me that I was going to say something about "An Emergency" Some employers might find the definition of "Emergency" fluid and abuse it within the context of this law if its definition is not well-defined within the law itself.

Yes, I know what I would define as an emergency. I'm just saying that an employer might abuse a vague definition of the term emergency within the context of the law.

For example: a company hires several plumbers and the toilet is clogged - overflowing onto the floor. If no other plumbers are available, they might resort to calling the last plumber because "its an emergency". Bad example, maybe, but I think I've made my point.

 

[Endymio]

Atleast here in Finland employees are not really allowed to decide for themselves. Whatever the unions have negotiated holds, and anything else lands employers in legal trouble.

Which explains why Finland's per-capita GDP is so much lower than the United States, despite a population that is better educated.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Atleast here in Finland employees are not really allowed to decide for themselves. Whatever the unions have negotiated holds, and anything else lands employers in legal trouble.

In the United States what ever you agree to sign is what goes.....which that's how they get you at the time of being hired.

 

[yRaz]

I travel a lot for work and I often don't know where I'm going the next day until 5-7 at night and that's just a necessary part of my job. Some jobs we expect to be ready aren't and others are ahead of schedule. But a 2 minute phone call at 7 at night saying "be at this location at this time tomorrow" is literally just part of my job. If I can't talk I just text a "?" They text me the location and time then I just reply with a thumbs-up so they know I got it.

I can certainly understand if someone doesn't want to spend an hour in a zoom meeting after they thought they were done for the day, especially if it's unpaid overtime.

 

[Kam7r]

Which explains why Finland's per-capita GDP is so much lower than the United States, despite a population that is better educated.

And that's why you don't find litteraly cities of homeless ppl around in Finland and in the EU...

 

[JBrittA713]

... thank God, we are all over our most pressing and socially urgent issues.
I mean, SRSLY?

 

[RandomWAN]

Crazy idea: Don't answer the phone. I don't answer it after hours or even read texts. As others said, if you didn't agree to it, there shouldn't be an expectation of it. If the boss/supervisor can't understand that, then they can kick rocks.

 

[dangh]

... thank God, we are all over our most pressing and socially urgent issues.
I mean, SRSLY?

Not all, but one very important - it is surprising how the 'slave' mentality is deeply rooted in US society when apparently you work anytime you master wants you...

Which explains why Finland's per-capita GDP is so much lower than the United States, despite a population that is better educated.

Does explain it as well that in quality of life ranking Finland is at 5th place, while USA on 15th, happiness: Finland no1, while USA no 21, Finland have higher Big Mac index than USA, HDI -- Finland is again better, criminality rate - 2.98 finland, 5,.67 USA, health care - same story.
GDP is not citizen oriented index. It is corporate - driven measure, which would be even better with slaves. That's why some are afraid of this new law ;D

 

[erickmendes]

”Should be available to everyone”, except employers themselves.

Well.... The right to disconnected is about employees, not employers, also because employers can choose the time they disconnect. That don't mean it won't impact their bussiness, but employers can choose to do it or don't. Employees can be fired if doing so.

 

[ElTechGuy]

"But the bill is unlikely to be met with much enthusiasm from tech companies and startups that prioritize always-on-the-clock work schedules"

So, paid slavery basically

 

[Endymio]

And that's why you don't find litteraly cities of homeless ppl around in Finland and in the EU...

Oops! There are approximately one million homeless in the EU, roughly double the number in the US:

Almost 1m people across Europe are homeless on any given night

Report says homelessness is worsening across EU and UK, with only Denmark and Finland making progress

www.theguardian.com

"But the bill is unlikely to be met with much enthusiasm from tech companies and startups that prioritize always-on-the-clock work schedules"

So, paid slavery basically

Learn what words mean. Accepting a paying position of your own free will is the polar antithesis of "slavery".

 

[Endymio]

Does explain it as well that in quality of life ranking Finland is at 5th place, while USA on 15th,

Those absurd quality of life rankings aren't worth the electrons they're printed on, especially when one delves into the subjective "weighting factors" used to derived them. According to the UN's 2022 "Human Development" Quality of Life Index, for instance, Finland scores 11th, not first.

But the true metric of desirability of living conditions isn't measured by some far-Left academic group -- it's the true democracy of people choosing themselves where to live. Some fifty million people around the world have "voted with their feet" to emigrate to the United States -- higher by far than all the 27 member nations of the EU combined.

 

[MasterAce]

Well.... The right to disconnected is about employees, not employers, also because employers can choose the time they disconnect. That don't mean it won't impact their bussiness, but employers can choose to do it or don't. Employees can be fired if doing so.

Indeed, as a business owner myself, every time I ”choose” to not be available I have to consider wether the customer will find someone else and never come back. Atleast here after hours working is not as common…

 

[MasterAce]

And that's why you don't find litteraly cities of homeless ppl around in Finland and in the EU...

Ah the Finnish wellfare system that we can’t afford anymore

 

[p51d007]

I don't need "a bill/law"...my phone work email turns off at 5:30pm M-F and turns back on at 7:30am M-F.
On weekends, it's OFF all the time. If my phone rings off hours, if it is someone from work, I let it go to
voicemail.

 

[Kam7r]

Oops! There are approximately one million homeless in the EU, roughly double the number in the US:

Almost 1m people across Europe are homeless on any given night

Report says homelessness is worsening across EU and UK, with only Denmark and Finland making progress

www.theguardian.com

Learn what words mean. Accepting a paying position of your own free will is the polar antithesis of "slavery".

I'll give you a hint... in the last couple years we received a sh!tload of migrants from Africa
so much that a lot of them can't be accommodated ( and I mean a lot )

 

[Endymio]

I'll give you a hint... in the last couple years we received a sh!tload of migrants from Africa
so much that a lot of them can't be accommodated ( and I mean a lot )

Nice try, but the homeless data I cited is from two years ago. It's not a recent phenomenon. Nor is this:

"Hungary was singled out for substandard accommodation, with almost half the population “living in overcrowded housing”, while one in eight families in Bulgaria were living in accommodation without an indoor toilet.

...Unfit housing was not just the preserve of eastern Europe, however. The authors found that in 2020, almost a fifth of the population of France were living in housing considered unfit for living, while almost a quarter of those in rented housing in the UK were classified in the same category...."

 

[takaozo]

In the last 2 years if someone at work calls me after working hours saying they have an emergency I reply with "then please call 911 or 112 deppending on your location" and hung up.