Dive Brief:
- SHRM and the Garden State Council-SHRM are advocating against a New Jersey bill that would give employees the right to disconnect from work during nonworking hours, according to a recent post by the human resources association. The bill, A4852, “limits the autonomy that employers and HR professionals need to establish effective workplace cultures” by using a “one-size-fits-all” approach, the groups said.
- Democratic Assemblywoman Heather Simmons introduced the bill, which would require nonworking hours to be detailed in written employer-employee agreements, in September.
- “While remote work has created numerous opportunities, as we transition back to in-person settings, we’re seeing high value being placed on after-hours personal time,” Simmons said in a prepared statement. “This bill is meant to ensure both employers and employees have a structure to not only improve their relationship but also to make sure businesses can recruit and retain a modern workforce who are increasingly prioritizing their personal lives.”
Dive Insight:
Some countries, including France, Argentina, Ireland and Australia, give workers the legal right not to respond to emails or calls after hours and not face negative repercussions. But these “right to disconnect” laws haven’t made headway in the U.S. yet.
A few states and at least one city — including Washington, California and New York City — have considered laws, and there is no legislation in place at the federal level.
The laws, in part, try to protect workers’ time amid the blurring of boundaries that has accompanied technological advancements and the growth of remote and hybrid work. In Chile and Mexico, for example, the laws only apply to remote workers.
Any right to disconnect movement in the U.S. would likely be led by businesses and then states, Alan King, president and CEO of Workplace Options, a global employee well-being company, previously told HR Dive.
The proposed New Jersey bill “defines the right to disconnect to mean that, except for an emergency or for scheduling, as defined, an employee has the right to ignore communications from the employer during nonworking hours.” Under the bill, an employee can file a complaint about a pattern of violation, and, if found credible, the violation could result in a fine of at least $100, per the bill’s language.
SHRM and Garden State Council-SHRM said the bill could present legal challenges over the definition of an emergency, could delay important business decisions, threaten the global competitiveness of U.S. businesses and potentially create an administrative burden.
“The legislation creates a catch-22 for an employee who cannot be simultaneously disconnected to comply with the law and connected to the employer to respond to an emergency,” the organizations wrote in a Nov. 19 letter sent to the bill’s author. “An employee needs to be connected to determine the nature of the communication from their employer.”
The organizations offered to work with Simmons and the New Jersey Legislature “to develop policies that prioritize employee well-being while ensuring business continuity and success.”
“SHRM and GSC-SHRM recognize the need for clear expectations regarding when and how work gets done, but our experience shows that blanket approaches to challenges in the workplace usually fail to deliver the expected results and often harm those they are designed to help,” the letter said.
