Work emails are one of life’s small tortures that can turn into huge headaches. You leave the office thinking you can finally go home, throw off your work clothes and unwind on the couch to watch some junk TV. You walk through the door, your shoulders already beginning to loosen as you think about that glass of wine that you need after that stressful day at work. Then your phone buzzes and you see that your boss needs you to write up a report not now, but right now. Sigh.
Well apparently, France said f– all that noise. The country’s workers unions just issued a mandate that forbids employees from attending to “work-related material on their computers or smartphones” after they clock out for the day, according to The Guardian. Sacre bleu! It’s time for me to move to Paris!
Under the deal, which affects a million employees in the technology and consultancy sectors (including the French arms of Google, Facebook, Deloitte and PwC), employees will also have to resist the temptation to look at work-related material on their computers or smartphones –or any other kind of malevolent intrusion into the time they have been nationally mandated to spend on whatever the French call la dolce vita.
The more I hear about the policies over there, the more I’m ready to book a one-way ticket. This is the same place that has 16-weeks of fully paid maternity leave, and a mandatory 31 days of paid vacation. Um, where do I sign up?!
In all seriousness though, I think it makes sense to have well-rested and happier employees. I know my work is much better when I’m in a good mood. And although people will argue that America wouldn’t be the great country we are unless people worked their asses off, I think it is a novel idea to put a stop gap on work related items when people go home. Kids deserve to hang out with their parents and have their full attention rather than have a glaring laptop looming over their heads. Well done, France!