About CLINT | Littler
Last week the Assemblée National in France has approved a new law in order to protect employees: employees of companies that employ more than 50 people are no longer allowed to send emails outside office hours. Such companies should adopt a time slot in which employees cannot check or send emails.
Communication firm Heldergroen in Haarlem, the Netherlands has been using such a strategy for some time. after work hours the whole work floor is being hoisted up towards the ceiling as shown in this movie: https://vimeo.com/12736211
By doing so the work floor is transformed into one big open space with a wide variety of possibilities for alternative use: inspiration sessions, yoga courses, fashion shows, serious lectures and even wild parties! At the same time this is a great way of protection against burglars: all expensive devices are safely hidden at the ceiling.
While there is an intense discussion in France about the employer’s role in the work-life balance of its employees in order to prevent stress problems, Sander Veenendaal, owner of Heldergroen, explains on Radio1 that their solution is working very well for them: employees are being forced to stop working ‘on time’ and to start winding down. Heldergroen’s clients not only accept the fact that there is no 24/7 availability, there are even clients that choose for Heldergroen because of this strategy. And clients that do not accept this stay away automatically because there is no fit. You sometimes have to say ‘no’ to a project, according to Heldergroen.
The above shows that the digitization process and 24/7 availability has drastically changed our lives. The thin line between work and private life is getting even thinner or might disappear completely. Some employees see this as a blessing; they know how to deal with the pressure to be available always and everywhere. The digitization process enables them to organise their own lives more than they could ever do in a job with obligatory nine-to-five presence.
Others experience the 24/7 availability as too much pressure and even suffer from stress problems or a burn out. Our society cannot close its eyes to this problem. In my opinion compulsory legislation is not necessary. I prefer to leave the responsibility and freedom with the citizens instead of placing it with the government. Nevertheless there is a role for employers here. This could be realized by drastic measures such as mandatory downtime but also by less comprehensive measures. One might consider an active policy in the field of modern communication tools or including a user policy to that effect in the employee handbook.
