Member Article

HR specialists speak up about new labour laws in France

Liverpool-based HR specialists, High Performance Consultancy (HPC), have contested the changes to working laws announced in France last week, suggesting they are a step too far.

A new labour law has been shaped in France to protect those working in the digital and consultancy sectors from responding to emails after 6pm. Employers will no longer be allowed to contact staff during the 133 hours of designated rest time during the week.

It is reported that companies must also take measures to ensure their employees come under no pressure to read work-related emails or documents outside of the specified working hours.

Managing Director at HPC, Victoria Brown is of the opinion that the new law may not be welcomed by employers, or in fact employees in the UK.

She said: “Since the release of easy-to-access mobile devices such as Smartphone’s, it has made it easier for employees to be contacted when away from the office or outside of office hours.

“However, this development has also afforded people the opportunity to have a more flexible approach to their work and to maintain control over how they manage their workload. This includes more opportunities for home working, which has allowed many to move away from the traditional 9-5 working day.

“In the hierarchical set-up of the modern workplace, employees typically have more autonomy over workloads and restricting the opportunity to respond to emails could cause unnecessary stress. This move could potentially be doing more harm than good, as it could be perceived as de-motivating in taking the control away from employees are wholly committed to their career development”.

“For some time there has been a move towards reducing red tape for businesses, and to introduce these legislations, I believe would be counterproductive. The Working Time Regulations are already in place, giving protection to employees. Good employers recognise they have a duty of care to their employees and already have measures in place to support and encourage the right work-life balance.”

Sweden is currently reviewing working conditions and have proposed reducing working hours to just 30 hours a week, with full pay for staff in Gothenburg; an experiment has been based around the theory that suggests that after six hours, employees become tired and productivity is significantly reduced.

For more information visit http://www.highperformanceconsultancy.com/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Dan Minchin .