Despite reports that France was making it illegal to email coworkers who were off the clock, that is not quite the case.
BuzzFeed News reported that misreading an article of the labor bill that is still being weighed in on at France's National Assembly and Senate has led outlets to inaccurately report that "the right of the employee to disconnect" means no digital communication can be sent during off work hours.
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Instead, article 25 of the labor bill says the company will be able to implement "control mechanisms for the use of digital tools, for the purpose of guaranteeing the respect of rest periods and vacations as well as personal and family life."
The article also says that, for employees with at least 50 employees, a work council, which represents European employees of a company, or staff representatives in lieu of a council, decide on "the reasonable use of digital tools."
BuzzFeed News reported that if the law passes, employees and employers will need to decide how exactly to limit digital communication during off-work hours.
Training sessions will follow based on established rules to ensure the company knows how to limit communications — not just email — outside of work hours.
Who establishes those rules will depend on the size of the company.
Middle-size and larger companies will have the rules defined by a charter, with some variance depending on the company. Bosses will define rules at smaller companies.
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