France examines proposal on the ‘right to disconnect’

The French labour minister Myriam El Khomri is examining a proposal to give workers the ‘right to disconnect’ (or ‘le droit à la déconnexion’) from work e-mails after hours. According to Bruno Mettling, Director General of Orange and the initiator of the proposal, ‘professionals who find the right balance between private and work life perform far better in their job than those who arrive shattered.’ The proposal is part of the fight against the increase in the number of burn-outs among employees, in response to which the French government has previously introduced the 35-hour work week.