

A French labor agreement bans work emails after 6 PM - saurabh
http://www.fastcompany.com/3028945/work-smart/france-just-made-it-illegal-to-answer-work-emails-after-6pm

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raldi
Counterpoint: [http://www.buzzfeed.com/marietelling/no-france-did-not-
make-...](http://www.buzzfeed.com/marietelling/no-france-did-not-make-it-
illegal-to-answer-work-emails-afte)

~~~
klausjensen
For those too lazy to read this debunk-piece:

No, France did not just ban work emails after 6pm.

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ignostic
Our reaction to this news is even more interesting than the fake news itself.
Professional communities are shocked and stunned at the stupudity of the fake
law. Meanwhile, others celebrate the victory over unfair work hours and lamen
the fact that they have to take emails after 6.

In many ways this shows our views on work hours. We think everyone should be
free to work hard, but there are clearly some strong feelings about the lack
of work-life balance at their jobs.

It's also a little shocking and embarrassing that PC Magazine, New York
Magazine, Gawker, Mashable, and more have picked up the story with no fact
checking.

[https://news.google.com/news?ncl=dLcjtixHZSBGZCM1daT3NKs7VJ5...](https://news.google.com/news?ncl=dLcjtixHZSBGZCM1daT3NKs7VJ5dM&q=france+bans+email+6&lr=English&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sR5HU-C8B4qlsQSVp4HQAQ&ved=0CDAQqgIwAA)

~~~
justinreeves
It's not shocking at all that Gawker picked up the story without fact checking
it. They're not in the business of facts.

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dang
This post manages a trifecta: it's blogspam, a duplicate, and bullshit.

All: please don't post stories like this to Hacker News. You've read the
article, the rest of us haven't, and moderators can't read them all. It's your
responsibility to make sure that it isn't something like this. Please do your
due diligence and optimize for signal/noise ratio.

Also, when a site is ripping off another source, please post that source
instead.

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MisterBastahrd
Looks like the author is getting blasted in the comments section for
misrepresenting facts.

Here's the link to the document, which is an agreement between a coalition of
employers and some French unions:

[http://www.slideshare.net/lesechos2/syntec-
avenantforfaitjou...](http://www.slideshare.net/lesechos2/syntec-
avenantforfaitjours?ref=http://embed.contagiousmedia.com/embed/sub/for-the-
french-speakers-here-is-the-text-from-the-n3u1aj-hmpf?uri=for-the-french-
speakers-here-is-the-text-from-the-n3u1aj-hmpf&cb=1397168880)

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NathanKP
As an American it is hard to understand how something like this is even
possible.

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adambard
The comments are more or less full of French people contesting the truth of
this assertion. Seems a bit dubious.

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tsm
How is this possibly beneficial? My dealing with email after 6PM often saves
me time/effort the next day, and if anyone is truly bothered by it they
could...not check their emails after 6. I've also put out a few fires and
helped a few people putting out their own fires via email...and was much
happier doing it by email than by having someone reach me through other
methods (calling or texting).

If nothing else, this seems like a clear intrusion of the government into
things that don't affect them—if someone wants to read or send email at a
given time of day, that should be their prerogative.

~~~
codyb
It's about promoting a healthy work life balance. It's doubtful there will be
enforcement if you choose to read e-mails after 6pm. However, now, there is no
way a company can keep you on the tether around the clock. It's a positive
development for the rights of the workers.

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hatred
I am still slightly bewildered by reading this news. To me it sounded like a
great fake news article at first. ( may be still is one )

I still wonder how critical outages will be handled in the tech world. E.g.
Google/FB Fr faces operational issues or even worse will they shut down their
nuclear plants too @ 6 ?

I wonder why the down-votes ?

~~~
MattHeard
It is likely that there are exceptions.

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mindstab
Anyone want to host their mission critical project with a team that has 7/5
support as opposed to 24/7?

~~~
Sae5waip
Anyone want to host their mission critical project with a team so small that
individual employees have to be on call 24/7?

If the company requires more than what can be done in a 40-hour work week, it
should hire more employees.

------
dba7dba
I heard from a lawyer friend who works in a high profile law firm. He told me
a partner emailed an associate a question late in the evening (like 9 or 10pm,
maybe even on Fri night) and didn't hear back a reply that same night.

The partner blasted an email to all in the firm publicly flogging the
associate lawyer the next day...

Considering lawyers in a law firm are not in a union, I guess such 'ban' on
email won't be happening anytime soon...

