France: Office Hours

office hours: In many jobs, work email doesnat stop when the employee leaves the office. And now France has decided to act. It has introduced rules to protect about a million people working in the digital and consultancy sectors from work email outside office hours. Those are taken to be before 9am and after 6pm. The deal signed between employers federations and unions says that employees will have to switch off work phones and avoid looking at work email, while firms cannot pressure staff to check messages . , according to BBC. France has a 35-hour week, adopted in 1998. But the French are not alone in worrying about how portable devices have exposed employees to longer hours. French workers protest in the streets of Paris in March 2014 Youare reclining on the beach admiring the surf when your phone goes beep. Youave got mail. From your boss. Michel de La Force, chairman of the General Confederation of Managers, has said that "digital working time" would have to be measured. Some emailing outside of office hours would be allowed but only in "exceptional circumstances". (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.