California lawmakers are mulling a bill that would make it illegal for employers to message their workers outside of normal work hours, which the bill's sponsor is calling a "right to disconnect" law.
The proposed legislation, introduced this week by Matt Haney, a Democratic State Assembly member representing San Francisco, would require employers to establish a policy outlining what their working hours are and how they will respect their employees' "right to disconnect," The Washington Post reported April 3. The bill puts employers on the hook for fines of up to $100 per violation.
If passed, it would apply only to salaried workers. Mr. Haney and other proponents of the bill said legislation is needed to keep up with technology and shifting norms on how people work.
"The villain here, if there had to be one, is not the bosses but really the technology," Mr. Haney said. "Everybody has a smartphone, so they're available 24/7, and that has led a lot of people to feel they can never turn off. Our laws are not updated to reflect that reality."
About 55% of workers say they regularly respond to work messages outside of their normal hours, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey of nearly 6,000 workers.
Opponents of the bill, including the California Chamber of Commerce, say it's too restrictive, and others told the Post they don't anticipate it will be passed in its current form. If the proposed legislation ends up on the governor's desk, he would have until September to sign it, and it would take effect at the start of 2025.
"My concern is if employers have to keep tabs on employees schedules, employees may lose flexibility to do work when they want to," Ashley Hoffman, policy advocate at the chamber of commerce, told the Post.