Thursday, April 4, 2024 – A lawmaker in California has proposed legislation that would give workers the right to ignore routine job messages outside of work hours.
Assemblyman Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) is introducing
a state bill to create a "right-to-disconnect" law that
guarantees workers uninterrupted personal and family time, free from calls or
messages after work hours.
Assembly Bill 2751 would give workers the right to ignore
work communications except in cases of emergencies or schedule changes.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the law would also order
workers to create and publish plans to implement the new law into their
policies and enable the California Labor Commissioner’s Office to investigate
and fine employers who routinely violate it.
The politician also told the news outlet that the bill would
validate California as a "forward-thinking state" and it would follow
similar policies in a dozen countries, including France.
If approved, Assembly Bill 2751 "would require a public
or private employer to establish a workplace policy that provides employees the
right to disconnect from communications from the employer during nonworking
hours, except as specified."
This means that, except in cases of an emergency or for
scheduling, workers would have the "right to ignore communications from
the employer during nonworking hours," according to the text of the bill.
Nonworking hours would be established by a written agreement
between the workers and the employer.
If the employer violates the rule, they could face a civil
penalty of at least $100, according to the current version of the bill.
California would become the first state in the US to
consider such a law.
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