Member-only story
We All Deserve The Legal “Right To Rest” From Work
Portugal is leading the world with their new law
Portugal is about to burst with immigration applications.
The country recently introduced a new law banning bosses from contacting employees outside of working hours. They already have plenty of sunshine, delicious food and a low crime rate. Sounds like paradise right?
The “right to rest” law has teeth too. Companies with more than 10 employees can be fined if they contact people outside their working hours. The financial penalty combined with the risk of losing staff can save the Portuguese from the terrors of the always-on culture.
Yes, the pandemic has led to the greater flexibility many workers craved but it’s come with secret terms and conditions. Sure, you can go and drop off your kids during work hours as long as you answer my emails outside them. No one ever spells it out like that so the invasion happens in stealth. 68% of US workers reported working on the weekend outside of their contracted hours during the pandemic.
Why? Natural boundaries no longer exist when you work from home. I know I felt like I was living at work at times rather than working from home when I was an employee. Even now as my own boss, clients will expect replies at all times of the day without respect for my personal time.
Enough is enough.
This isn’t a socialist luxury
Western Europe has always had greater protections for workers than the US or the UK. Several countries even guaranteed an 11-hour break every 24 hours for the majority of workers. Some might argue Portugal’s latest law only makes sense there because they have a different culture.
Those people would be wrong.
Hustle culture and the ‘always on’ mentality has been repeatedly shown to have negative effects on not just health but performance too. Out of those expected to respond to out of hours communication, 70.4% feel psychological distress and 63.5% feel emotional exhaustion.
The problem with not having a right to rest is you are stuck in limbo between work and personal time. If you’re having dinner with your partner whilst checking your…
