The right to disconnect from work. Is that even possible in today’s super-connected electronic world?
A California lawmaker has introduced legislation that would give workers the right to not respond to work-related inquiries made outside of regular working business hours, and which would make companies that repeatedly violate this mandate subject to administrative complaints and fines.
The bill includes several exceptions for emergencies and for industries with irregular working hours and/or employees subject to collective bargaining agreements. In addition, if an employee signs an agreement providing for contact outside of regular hours or receive compensation for on-call time, the prohibition would not apply.
As expected, business groups have expressed significant opposition to the bill, which, for example, appears to cover exempt employees, who by definition, are paid a salary for all hours worked in a given workweek, regardless of the total number of hours worked. The bill could also have the unintended effect of reducing access to overtime compensation on which many California workers depend.
Check out the text of the proposed legislation here: Bill Text – AB-2751 Employer communications during nonworking hours.
We will keep you posted on this very interesting development. If this passes in California, could your state be next??