Want the legal right to ignore your boss outside working hours? Learn from the French

Every August, the same set of transatlantic memes about work and holiday circulate on social media. The European is depicted as out of the office with a strict attitude towards switching off and not responding to clients (“I’m away camping for the summer – please contact me as of 2 September”) while for the American there is no such luxury (“I’m in the hospital – I’m so so sorry for the 30-minute delay in getting back to you!”).
There’s more than a kernel of truth to this stereotype. Europeans often fret that they are “falling behind” the US economically, but in reality, per capita GDP in the US is 30% higher than in France largely because Americans work 25% more hours every year than French workers. Indeed, the term la rentrée doesn’t have a great translation into (American) English in part because it’s not just a word, it’s a cultural phenomenon: “the return to everything” in September – work, school, book releases, museum exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events, and of course, political brouhaha – when everyone comes back from at least a month’s holiday.
But it’s not only about weeks off during the summer. Since 2017, French labour law has included the “right to disconnect” – a measure the UK government is now also considering. The law, which applies to companies with more than 50 workers, obliges businesses to clearly define normal working hours and set out policies around work communications negotiated with employees, andallows workers to be unreachable, or to not reply, when work is over. Other European countries, including Belgium, Spain and Italy, have since followed suit.
Sarah Wachter, communications manager at a Paris-based fintech company, says that at her workplace “there is so much encouragement not to respond after hours”, which she attributes to “a combination of knowing it’s the law and knowing that people support it. I feel 100% in my rights to disconnect every weekend, in the evenings, when I’m sick, on vacation. I feel no pressure to answer my emails or other work communications.”
In contrast, Sabina, a 29-year-old American currently working remotely from Paris, told me that she was seeking a transfer to her company’s European office – in part because she was fed up with the expectation that she would always be available. “I definitely feel pressure to respond to emails and Slack messages after work hours, and even texts while on vacation,” she said. “They will push you and make you feel like you have to respond, which makes it hard to have boundaries.”
Over the past few years awareness has grown of the perils of work creeping into leisure time – especially for knowledge workers, whose jobs don’t have to be done in an office or on an assembly line. The French health insurance company Alan even makes the case on its website that the right to disconnect is a public health issue. Meanwhile, the numerous trial runs of a four-day workweek (which some businesses and even some parts of the French civil service are experimenting with) have shown that a better work-life equilibrium results in employees experiencing reduced stress levels, less tiredness, and increased happiness and personal satisfaction – as well as increased productivity.
Despite the change in French law, bad habits persist, and have perhaps been exacerbated by the pandemic and the move towards home working. A 2023 poll by the French firm Opinionway found that 55% of French workers checked their work emails in some way during their time away from the office, and 27% reported having worked remotely while on vacation. The organisation Vaincre le Burn Out (“defeat burnout”) estimates that 2 million French workers are suffering from burnout – a problem that feels like it has worsened since the pandemic.
Despite these worrying statistics, those hoping the UK government implements a right to disconnect should be encouraged by the positive effect it has had on French working culture. Geoff, an American who is a product manager for a French startup, says that in his former job with a US tech company it was normal to communicate with colleagues and managers outside work hours. Now (and despite being unaware of the legal framework), he wouldn’t expect any of his team to respond to him on weekends or holidays.
Perhaps the law on the right to disconnect has shifted the culture of French workplaces. Some young workers have only ever known a France that operates this way. Luc, who works for an NGO, finished his studies in 2017 and started his first full-time job after the law came into effect. It’s not really something he’s ever consciously thought about, “maybe because I’ve always taken it for granted,” he says.
With that I’ll sign off. After all, it’s August and I have a holiday to get (back) to.