CNBC: France 'Right to Disconnect' Law: Do We Need Rules To Reclaim Personal Time?

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Cary Cooper, a professor of psychology and health at Britain's University of Manchester, told NBC News that per capita productivity in the U.K. is poor "because we have the longest working hours in Europe but also because we are probably the biggest users in Europe of communications and information technologies, particularly emails."

 

He added: "The leading cause in almost all developed countries of workplace absence is disorders like stress, anxiety and depression. It used to be musculoskeletal — backache and things like that. It's also the leading cause of presenteeism — people going to work ill — so they're present at work, but they're not delivering any added value."

 

Employers have in many cases been slow to address the problem of digital burnout. Cooper said he asked major employers in his National Forum for Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace what guidance they gave employees on avoiding digital overload, and discovered that they gave very little.

"Myself, I don't think that [the French law] is the way to go," Cooper told NBC News. "I think the thing to do is to actively have guidance by employers on the things that you shouldn't do, particularly as a manager."