Posted on 04/10/2014 10:49:03 AM PDT by markomalley
Alongside the 35 hour working week, six weeks of paid leave and generous striking rights, a portion of French workers can now also be grateful for the right to ignore bosses’ emails after work.
Employers will no longer be allowed to bombard staff with messages in the 133 hours of the week designated for rest, according to a new agreement signed by employers’ federations and trade unions in the digital and technology sectors.
Staff have been ordered to switch off professional phones and emails, while employers are required to ensure there is no pressure for workers to keep up-to-speed after hours.
Companies affected by the deal, which is legally binding, include the French arms of Google and Facebook. Critics have wondered how multinational companies such as these will keep in touch across borders, given the time differences between Paris and Silicon Valley.
But Michel De La Force, chairman of the General Confederation of Managers, spoke in support of the deal: “We can admit extra work in exceptional circumstances but we must always come back to what is normal, which is to unplug, to stop being permanently at work.”
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
The surrender syndrome still part of the French DNA…..
Germany did something similar the other day
In other words,these people are outlawing hard work, going the extra mile, productivity, etc….
And, it's not an emergency unless you receive a phone call.
After-hours email is self-perpetuating.
“In other words,these people are outlawing hard work, going the extra mile, productivity, etc….”
I’ve worked in international firms where other offices or customers are seven or ten hours away. Usually, by appointment we’d have calls at home or emails at all odd hours. The ability to do that made us much more productive. If you’re going to be competitive in a spread-out company you really need to make time adjustments so the whole can function. Having said that I once worked for Schlumberger, which at the time was the largest company on the planet. We always adjusted for their time and they were almost never available for us in the US. They take six weeks off and even when they were supposed to be there they often weren’t or pretended not to be. They were horrible to deal with. If we’d had the choice we would never have used them as a supplier.
Fine, let the French lower their competitiveness. They have a captive market at home, but to the rest of the world they’re the supplier of last and least choice.
“Workers” That word has always bothered me.
Does anyone here know any French who have started or run a business there?
I don’t know. I used to get emails from a boss after hours, like from 9PM till midnight. Then in the wee hours of the morning I’d get his drunken telephone calls asking me why I hadn’t responded, and what actions were we taking on this or that.
Just ‘cuz. Nothing urgent. Nothing pending. Just because he could.
I don’t think you understand the issue. Sounds to me like you’re okay with an entire country outlawing hard work because you once worked for a drunk.
Hmmm….what else are you okay with big government doing, as long as it’s one of your pet causes???
“Germany did something similar the other day”
Yes; Europe is determined to avoid going back to the feudal system where workers were owned by lords, and while FReepers seem bothered by these laws they are ignoring the fact that here in the US we’re going back to the days of mass exploitation. Before flaming, remember that after all the reasons why we were better off than Western Europeans (we had lower unemployment, lower taxes, a better standard of living, lower prices, better healthcare) - how many of those still hold true? Today we pay the same taxes, high prices, deal with high unemployment, socialized medicine, and a reduced standard of living...at least they get six weeks off and no after-work emails as part of their deal.
We could point fingers when we were better off; those days are gone.
Hmmm….what else are you okay with big government doing, as long as it’s one of your pet causes???
*******************
Errrr... How do you see big government being one of my pet causes?
I’m sure the chinese, koreans, taiwanese, japanese, indians are all smiles today.
And they wonder why companies “outsource”?
“I’m sure the chinese, koreans, taiwanese, japanese, indians are all smiles today. And they wonder why companies “outsource”?”
They’ve been smiling for decades; Americans were losing their jobs to them while still getting emails at 3 am...
HUH? Government was not your cause…it was your approved hammer. Your pet cause in this case was bosses who email inappropriately late, and thus, you are supporting, at least in a way, the over reach of government to outlaw such.
So do a lot of Freepers, who don't realize that while our government and our unions don't have quite this level of absurdity - they do hamper businesses enough to make outsourcing attractive, and sometimes necessary to stay in business.
Yes. Some area of Sweden just went to the six hour work day.
First of all, it is France. Their laws are their business. An old, pre-neocon and even anti-neocon concept I know, but I think it is their business.
Second, hourly workers (as discussed here) should work their hours. They should not be compelled by sheer whim or managerial incompetence to work outside their hours. Imposed off hours labor is stealing. I don’t like thieves. If a government cannot thwart theft or illicit involuntary servitude within its borders, what good is it?
Your beef seems to be that ‘overreaching’ government is called in to keep the contract. It is that or ‘self help’. Like cudgels I guess. Be careful what you wish for.
In my case - here in the US - I was on salary. Not much I could do about the drunk and drug addicted “turbo super achiever entrepreneur” who was emailing and calling me between 9PM and 4AM, when my usual office hours were 7AM - 7PM. So I quit. If I was hourly, I would not have tolerated it.
I understand it is France, but liberals in favor of a nanny state government are the same everywhere….and don’t think for a minute that same mindset is not in this country, especially with this admin and unions.
Second, I applaud that you quit. I would never ever say you should be forced to put up with that. BUT you apparently are okay with NANNY GOVERNMENT rushing to the rescue. Govt is almost NEVER the answer. You exercised your right, in liberty, which is almost ALWAYS the right answer.
But shame on you for being a pro big gov freeper.
Hubby had a crazy irrational boss who would demand all of his employees work normal hours and then all night if that was when he was on his computer. He would often not show up for work. Hubby finally had enough and found another job. The former boss is really bad on foreign workers who he thinks should work around the clock because that is what they would be expected to do in their home country or in his home country. He demanded passwords to computers even though that set the company up for liability. He even asked hubby for our personal cable company password. He was insulted that hubby refused. What a schmuck.
But shame on you for being a pro big gov freeper.
**************
LOL! Shame on you for being presumptuous.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.