New Yorkers who are bombarded with a barrage of after-hours communication may soon get a respite. A proposed “right to disconnect” bill would prohibit private employers in New York City from requiring employees to check and respond to email and other electronic communications during non-working hours.
Workers already spend an overwhelming majority (78%) of their waking hours thinking about their jobs during the week, according to an Adobe study. It also revealed that 41% of waking hours on a typical day off are spent working or thinking about work.
Councilman Rafael Espinal, the sponsor of the bill, tells the New York Times that the bill was fashioned like similar laws in Europe: “[I]t says that you, as an employee, should have the right to not answer that call or that email, without fear of retaliation.”
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