French 'right to disconnect' law goes into effect

[Shawn Knight]

Being able to leave work at work is a luxury that many don’t have, especially among those in IT. I’ve personally witnessed how companies take advantage of salaried employees by forcing them to work from home after hours, sometimes even during holidays or while on vacation.

Now thanks to a new law dubbed “the right to disconnect,” having to worry about being contacted out of hours may soon be a thing of the past for French citizens.

From January 1, 2017, companies with more than 50 employees will be forced to conduct discussions as to when workers have the right to ignore e-mail and other communications without repercussions.

In the event that a deal between employer and employee can’t be reached, The Guardian notes that the employer must publish a charter that explicitly outlines the demands on, and rights of, employees when not on the clock.

At the same time, Xavier Zunigo, a French workplace expert, said workers won’t want to lose the autonomy and flexibility that digital devices afford.

France has had a work week of just 35 hours in place for nearly 20 years.

Supporters of the law claim that employees that are required to work out of hours aren’t being compensated for the extra work. What’s more, they say that the overuse of such digital devices can lead to increased stress, burnout, sleeplessness and even relationship problems.

Declining to work after hours may also reflect poorly on an employee, giving the impression that said employee isn’t committed to their employer.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/67594-french-right-disconnect-law-goes-effect.html

 

[yRaz]

Declining to work after hours may also reflect poorly on an employee, giving the impression that said employee isn’t committed to their employer.

I disagree, I think it reflects poorly on the company to expect an employee to work for free when off the clock. I work for a company that labels us all as "contractors" and does not have to pay us time and a half. One one end of things the money is good enough that I don't really need the OT pay, but at the same time when I have to give up going out with family or friends to work the extra pay for my sacrifice would be nice.

People are not machines, do not expect them to work as such.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.

Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

 

[yRaz]

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.

Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

This doesn't have anything to do with socialism. If I remember correctly, we call forcing people to work for free slavery

 

[VitalyT]

It is every man's right to be as useless and lazy as he wants, which is what the French is fighting for. I think it has little to do with privacy.

 

[yRaz]

It is every man's right to be as useless and lazy as he wants, which is what the French is fighting for. I think it has little to do with privacy.

If you read the article then you'd know that this is about people not wanting to get threatened with their job for not wanting to work for free on vacation or on holiday, how can you people be against this? How is not wanting to be forced to work for free being lazy and useless?

 

[Evernessince]

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.

Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

Since when did worker's rights equate to socialism?

It is every man's right to be as useless and lazy as he wants, which is what the French is fighting for. I think it has little to do with privacy.

My 1st Boss always told me to work smarter, not harder. I can tell you for a fact that employers do take advantage of salaried workers, and it's well shown in Media. You know, the thousands of movies where the person has to choose his family or his career. Your boss calls you up and asks you to work Christmas eve. You have every right to either be paid to work that or reject it outright. People are not slaves to the 1% and stop perpetuating it as lazy.

 

[treetops]

The top 1% of the top 1% own as much money as the bottom 90%. Just something to think about.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.

Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

This doesn't have anything to do with socialism. If I remember correctly, we call forcing people to work for free slavery

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.
Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

This doesn't have anything to do with socialism. If I remember correctly, we call forcing people to work for free slavery

It's happened since the invention and launch of homo sapiens. It's called "taking advantage". I guess we're all guilty, with no exceptions.

 

[RedGuard]

Who's getting threatened to be fired in the IT industry? You could work only 10 hours per week and still be wanted because of the lack of qualified people in this field.

People are hiring from India not only because of cost. They hire also because they can't find people from anywhere else. It's a hassle finding people in Hungary/Ukraine/Romania/Bulgaria/Russia, what's the chance you'll find someone looking for a programming job in the West?

 

[Uncle Al]

Frankly, I would like to see a simple privacy law that requires each and every keeper of your information have to:

1. Request it
2. Be required to delete it annually unless you say otherwise.
3. Be prohibited from making it mandatory to release your information as a condition of access to their site.
4. Be held liable for ANY unauthorized release of data, no matter the reason.

An individuals right to privacy far exceeds any companies right to make money off us or our privacy. The country was founded and operates on individual rights, not corporate rights. It is one of the major mistakes made by the not so supreme court that stated corporations are people too (simplified version)......

 

[namesrejected]

Who's getting threatened to be fired in the IT industry? You could work only 10 hours per week and still be wanted because of the lack of qualified people in this field.

People are hiring from India not only because of cost. They hire also because they can't find people from anywhere else. It's a hassle finding people in Hungary/Ukraine/Romania/Bulgaria/Russia, what's the chance you'll find someone looking for a programming job in the West?

Agreed. I would also like to add that many companies have quotas that need met. Salary is awesome for Programmers that can meet the quota ahead of schedule. The programmer that is horribly slow be it from just slacking on the job, or just not having the skill or knowledge to meet the quota in a given time frame may have to work extra hours to meet said quota.

Now, what happens from there is this :

The programmer that just cant "get er done" complains " lifes not fair! Woe is me! Booo Hoo ", so the company must add more to the competent, productive programmers quota to " fix the squeaky wheel ", and still get enough done to stay in business. Now, how is this fair to the competent programmer! This isn't just a IT issue, its in all industries, and is the root problem in socialism ( I believe that this idea is where Bigtruckseries was getting socialism from ).

 

[captaincranky]

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.

Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

This doesn't have anything to do with socialism. If I remember correctly, we call forcing people to work for free slavery

The trouble with both slavery and socialism is, that the former has morphed into the latter, and too many (descendants), of former slaves, are riding the crest of the wave of benefits which socialism provides.

This is a two-pronged assault on a properly functioning society. Social entitlements have a certain degree of sexist tendencies attached. They are largely predicated on the "women and children first" school of thought, attached to sinking ships and such.

However, this leaves the males free to hunt for lodging among the pool of female entitlement recipients. Which leads to more children born into the class. The male children which grow up and take their rightful place and function within that segment of society, which is standing on the porch functioning as a scarecrow to ward off other potential males seeking to garner that territory, while also operating as unlicensed distributors of illegal substances. It the biblical sense, "socialism begets socialism, it is fruitful, and therefore multiplies". As does the need for other people's money to support it.

The top 1% of the top 1% own as much money as the bottom 90%. Just something to think about.

I'm just curious here, what happened to the other 9% which is missing?

 

[namesrejected]

I'm just curious here, what happened to the other 9% which is missing?

USA education happened . Woot to No Child Left Behind !

 

[StrikerRocket]

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.

Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

A recent study stated that between 15 and 20% of the world's riches lies in tax heavens (between $16.000 and $26.000 Billion according to an IMF study in 2012) and that roughly amounts to the debt of the so-called developed countries... That kind of money was not hidden by socialist countries, but by countries such as the USA in Delaware, Virgin islands, Jersey & Guernsey (linked to UK), Switzerland and so forth. Official studies show that, in France (I'm French... and I'm a lazy sod, yeah, I know...) the amount of money lost due to tax evasion is between 60 and 80 Billion (that's million with a 'B' ;-) ), and those responsible are, list is partial, Amazon, McDonald's, Apple, Ikea, Heinz, Pepsi, but also EDF, the partially state-owned monopolistic French utility producer/seller for electricity, not to mention banks like Goldman Sach, or French banks like BPCE or BNP.

Your comment is a blatant proof of your lack of information and/or judgment. Open your eyes and do some research instead of repeating the usual BS from the media whose only goal is to make you as dumb as you can be in order to feed you more crap and make you work around the clock for free.

If big corporation could do it, I.e, if it was feasible politically, they would re-instate slavery, believe me... and sadly, they are making progress, thanks to people with you mindset.

Sorry, I had to do something...

 

[StrikerRocket]

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.

Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

A recent study stated that between 15 and 20% of the world's riches lies in tax heavens (between $16.000 and $26.000 Billion according to an IMF study in 2012) and that roughly amounts to the debt of the so-called developed countries... That kind of money was not hidden by socialist countries, but by countries such as the USA in Delaware, Virgin islands, Jersey & Guernsey (linked to UK), Switzerland and so forth. Official studies show that, in France (I'm French... and I'm a lazy sod, yeah, I know...) the amount of money lost due to tax evasion is between 60 and 80 Billion (that's million with a 'B' ;-) ), and those responsible are, list is partial, Amazon, McDonald's, Apple, Ikea, Heinz, Pepsi, but also EDF, the partially state-owned monopolistic French utility producer/seller for electricity, not to mention banks like Goldman Sach, or French banks like BPCE or BNP.

Your comment is a blatant proof of your lack of information and/or judgment. Open your eyes and do some research instead of repeating the usual BS from the media whose only goal is to make you as dumb as you can be in order to feed you more crap and make you work around the clock for free.

If big corporation could do it, I.e, if it was feasible politically, they would re-instate slavery, believe me... and sadly, they are making progress, thanks to people with you mindset.

Sorry, I had to do something...

"Tax heaven", I meant "tax havens" of course, though "heaven" is also a good word here!

Money lost in France due to tax evasion is between 60-80 billion *per year*, of course, I forgot this par, so do the math.
And by companies that have no problems whatsoever using roads and public services paid for by honest working citizens who DO pay they fair share of taxes and get more pressure from their employers every day...

 

[turismozilla]

The problem with socialism is eventually you'll run out of other people's money to spend.

Just how unproductive do you people want to be?

Ha! I knew somebody would use the word "socialism."

 

[captaincranky]

Ha! I knew somebody would use the word "socialism."

What's the matter with saying,"socialism "? Is it profane? Once upon a time, Social Security was strongly argued against, the grounds for which were the proposal that it was "too socialistic".

So, you should quickly realize that all of today's free money, free food, government entitlements, and subsidies are "socialism", not democracy or capitalism. The "redistribution of wealth to the less fortunate", is one of socialism's cornerstones.

And to tell the truth, "socialism" is to governments, what, "premarital sex" is to individuals. Something you practice, but deny doing.

 

[turismozilla]

What's the matter with saying,"socialism "? Is it profane? Once upon a time, Social Security was strongly argued against, the grounds for which were the proposal that it was "too socialistic".

So, you should quickly realize that all of today's free money, free food, government entitlements, and subsidies are "socialism", not democracy or capitalism. The "redistribution of wealth to the less fortunate", is one of socialism's cornerstones.

And to tell the truth, "socialism" is to governments, what, "premarital sex" is to individuals. Something you practice, but deny doing.

I am with you, I just find it funny every time somebody cries "socialism" whenever there are programs design to improve folks' lives, but they forget the red carpet they layout for corporations, corporations benefit greatly from socialism. I remember to have read someone many years ago saying that Linux was a communist thing by it being free of charge and all that, that everything needs a monetary value or you're socialist/communist and whatnot. Again, I am with you.