It’s a universal headache: Your phone rings after work hours, and it’s your boss.
You don’t know exactly what he or she wants, but it’s probably not to wish you a good night or a happy weekend. More likely than not, an after-hours call means more work for you.
Working conditions have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic, which put legions of workers on remote or hybrid schedules. Some of those flexible schedules and location policies remain in place, making it harder for workers to establish a concrete end to their workday.
In California, one Democratic lawmaker wants to solve that by codifying a worker’s right to ignore communications from their boss after work hours.
“People now find themselves always on and never off,” Assemblymember Matt Haney told The New York Times. “The problem we have now is the gray area, where an employee is expected to respond all the time when on paper they work a 9-to-5 job.”
Filed in February, Assembly Bill 2751 would apply to both public and private employers, requiring them to allow workers “the right to disconnect from communications” from an employer during off hours. It provides some exceptions for emergencies or scheduling changes.
“This is not intended to say people can’t work long hours or have an agreement for a contract where they’re on call, but it should be made clear,” Haney, who represents the San Francisco area, told the Times.
The bill is now in the Assembly’s Committee on Labor and Employment, where it has been read twice and amended.
It will likely need to go to a fiscal committee before it can be read a final time on the State Assembly floor for a vote. If it receives a majority vote, it will head to the State Senate for a similar process.
