Worker wins battle over outside-office-hours demands

The French wing of Rentokil Initial, the British pest control firm, has been ordered to pay a former employee €60,000 ($103,050) because it failed to respect his “right to disconnect” outside office hours.

The ruling is believed to be the first of its kind since a 2016 law on the right to switch off phones and computers came into effect on January 1 last year in response to the modernday scourge of compulsive out-ofhours email and message checking.

In its decision, France’s supreme court found it unfair for the unnamed ex-employee, a former South West regional director, to have to “permanently leave his telephone on . . . to respond to requests from his subordinates or customers”.

The ex-employee was fired in 2011 and took his ex-employer to the workers’ tribunal, asking for compensation for the extra hours “on call”.

Under the so-called El Khomri law, named after a former French Labour Minister, companies are obliged to negotiate with employees to agree on their rights to switch off and ways they can reduce the intrusion of work into their private lives.

If a deal cannot be reached, the company must publish a charter that makes explicit the demands on employees out-of-hours, as well as their rights.