In Germany, it’s already common at a few employers to not receive any work email and/or phone calls outside office hours. Companies that have enforced this in the past years include BMW, Volkswagen and Telekom. However, the German government, in this case the minister for Employment Andrea Nahles, is looking into the creation of an anti-stress law.
According to an interview posted on RP-online (Google Translate link), Nahles’ goal with the new law is to let all Germans have proper downtime, after work time. With modern economics and communications having people send out work emails and phone calls around the clock, the boundaries between work and private life are fading. This is dangerous when it comes to recharging one’s energy during private time, so one can go to work refreshed and healthily.
The problem with legislation like this German anti-stress law is that on the one hand, being concerned about people’s mental health and stress levels is good and important, on the other hand government involvement in situations like this can be seen as too big brother-ish.
Find out more about the details of the plans concerning this new German anti-stress law in the Google Translate-linked article here.
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