French workers win legal right to avoid checking work email out-of-hours

From 1 January, workers have 'right to disconnect' as France seeks to establish agreements that afford work flexibility but avoid burnout

From Sunday, French companies will be required to guarantee their employees a "right to disconnect" from technology as the country seeks to tackle the modern-day scourge of compulsive out-of-hours email checking.

On 1 January, an employment law will enter into force that obliges organisations with more than 50 workers to start negotiations to define the rights of employees to ignore their smartphones.