France's new law bans workers from checking emails on weekends

We live in a world where many people live, sleep, and eat work, and by that we mean, they basically work ALL the time.

It’s one of those things many of us do… check and send work emails even after hours, but this habit leaves many people stressed and detached from the outside world. It means not being fully present at birthday parties, family outings, vacations, you name it.

“All the studies show there is far more work-related stress today than there used to be, and that the stress is constant. Employees physically leave the office, but they do not leave their work. They remain attached by a kind of electronic leash— like a dog. The texts, the messages, the emails — they colonize the life of the individual to the point where he or she eventually breaks down,” Benoit Hamon of the French National Assembly told the BBC.

France has now passed a new law that bans workers from accessing work emails after hours. The "right to disconnect" law is aimed at minimising the negative impacts of being excessively plugged in, Huffington post reported. The law currently only applies for companies with 50 employees or more and there is no penalty for violating it. According to the report, companies are expected to voluntarily adhere to it.

In the below video, Vynamic, a healthcare management consulting firm based in Philadelphia, talks about how banning emails on the weekend helped its business.