I really wish that Americans didn’t lump an entire continent with their own laws, cultures, and customs together.
Yes, the American attitude towards work sucks, but comparing Germany and the UK is like comparing New York with Kingston…
I’m gonna guess the meme was made by a European, to make fun of us Murrikans.
is like comparing New York with Kingston
EU has delegated (?) acts mandating that every EU country transfers to local laws the “right to disconnect” with which every company needs to have a policy that prohibits them contacting their employees outside of work time (which ofc includes vacations) … except “in emergencies” (along with communication channel sequence) … which arent super defined but should be along the lines of preventing/avoiding damages in extraordinary situations.
And that employees can’t be punished for ignoring any communication outside of work hours in any case.
There is a delegated act on the way that may find its way into law, but it’s likely that it won’t get that far (like many EU laws) because they move a lot slower than local laws, and because not all countries agree (or agree to a larger extent). It’s also worth noting that the EU != Europe, so there will be several counties in and out that will have their own vested interests in passing/not passing this as law. Ireland is a big one, as they heavily rely on tech investment, whereas France will likely go above and beyond anything the EU will cook up. I believe Belgium in particular beat everyone to this.
No, delegated acts are law for all EU members directly, directives have to be implemented via local laws.
But EU bureaucracy works, it’s a process but it does the job, they work via public consolations with member states & private sectors (companies) on legislations, and it really shows (in amendments too - especially once in force practices show which areas need more considerations & which simplifications).
And the right to disconnect is what most countries had as some base legacy laws, but now it’s setup up in a common way.
via iuslaboris.com/laws-on-the-right-to-disconnect … seems updated, tho iirc Canada also has at least some form of this … eastern Europe is just way behind in lawmaking generally (it’s still work even if they don’t have opposition), not sure what’s with Germany.