Want Better Work-Life Balance? You Might Want to Move to Europe

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• April 25, 2014
• By Team Brazen
• 2 Comments

Business and HR blogs blew up recently over the news that several European countries have instituted bans and limits on after-hours work.

In France, workers unions in the technology and consultancy sectors signed a legally binding labor agreement requiring workers to unplug from work calls and emails after 6 p.m.

In Germany, the employment ministry cited a desire to prevent employee burn-out when they told managers to stop calling or emailing their staff after-hours except in the case of a true emergency.

And in Sweden, the city of Gothenburg announced a new experiment in six-hour workdays for some of its employees, in the hopes of increasing worker productivity and mental health.

All of this lead to some pretty hot debate over whether other countries should follow suit — and what that could mean for employers and employees alike.

For some great discussions on the topic, check out the National Post (Canada) article here, Human Capital (Australia) article here, and Fast Company’s article here.

What do you think about these workday limits? Should the U.S. adopt similar measures?

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