The French have a reputation for long lunches and short work weeks. And, a law went into effect on January 1 that gives French workers the “right to disconnect” from their companies outside of working hours. 

1. Right to Disconnect
Human Resource Management

2. Prepared By
Manu Melwin Joy
Assistant Professor
SCMS School of Technology and Management
Kerala, India.
Phone – 9744551114
Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com
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3. Right to Disconnect
• The French have a
reputation for long lunches
and short work weeks.
And, a law went into effect
on January 1 that gives
French workers the “right
to disconnect” from their
companies outside of
working hours.

5. Right to Disconnect
• The measure was introduced
by labour minister Myriam El
Khomri, who commissioned a
report submitted in September
2015 which warned about the
health impact of “info-obesity”
which afflicts many
workplaces.

6. Right to Disconnect
• The law included a
chapter titled "The
Adaptation of Work
Rights to the Digital Era,"
Article 25 of which
establishes the le droit
de la déconnexion, or the
right to disconnect.

7. Right to Disconnect
• Companies with more
than 50 workers will be
obliged to draw up a
charter of good conduct,
setting out the hours
when staff are not
supposed to send or
answer emails.

8. Right to Disconnect
• Under the new law,
companies will be
obliged to negotiate with
employees to agree on
their rights to switch off
and ways they can
reduce the intrusion of
work into their private
lives.

9. Right to Disconnect
• A study published by
French research group
Eleas in October showed
that more than a third of
French workers used
their devices to do work
out-of-hours every day.
About 60% of workers
were in favour of
regulation to clarify their
rights.

10. Right to Disconnect
• Supporters of the new
law say that employees
who are expected to
check and reply to their
work emails out of hours
are not being paid fairly
for their overtime, and
that the practice carries
a risk of stress, burnout,
sleep problems and
relationship difficulties.

11. Right to Disconnect
• The measure is intended
to tackle the so-called
“always-on” work culture
that has led to a surge in
usually unpaid overtime
– while also giving
employees flexibility to
work outside the office.

12. Right to Disconnect
• Work-life balance expert
Anna Cox from University
of College London (UCL)
said companies must
take into account
demands from
employees for both
protection and
flexibility.

13. Right to Disconnect
• “For some people, they
want to work for two
hours every evening, but
want to be able to switch
off between 3 and 5pm
when they pick their kids
up and are cooking
dinner,” she said.

14. Right to Disconnect
• Others are happy to use
their daily commute to
get ahead before they
arrive in the office, she
explained.

15. Right to Disconnect
• Furthermore, she said
the world of work was
changing as rapidly as
the technology, with
more and more
employees working
remotely or with
colleagues in other time
zones.

16. Right to Disconnect
• “Some of the challenges
that come with flexibility
are managing those
boundaries between
work and home and
being able to say
‘actually I am not
working now’,” she said.

17. Will the Law work?
• It was the only one of the
laws - which also made it
easier for firms to hire and
fire employees - that did not
generate widespread protest
and strikes.
• Some private companies
have previously tried to put
limits on their employees'
use of work email outside
working hours.

18. Will the Law work?
• For instance, in 2014, the
German vehicle-maker
Daimler set up an optional
service for workers going on
holiday; instead of sending
an out-of-office reply, they
could opt to have all new
emails automatically deleted
while they were away.

19. Will the Law work?
• “There’s a real
expectation that
companies will seize on
the ‘right to disconnect’
as a protective measure,”
said Xavier Zunigo, a
French workplace expert,
as a new survey on the
subject was published in
October.

20. Will the Law work?
• Remember the old
adage, “All work
and no play makes
Jack a dull boy.”
Everyone deserves
some time to
disconnect.