A new law in France starting New Year’s Day will allow workers "the right to disconnect�? from their smartphones and from checking work emails after hours. 
 
 The new law corresponds to companies with more than 50 employees, and it is intended to tackle the “always-on�? work culture, which leads to overtime as well as an intrusion in their private lives outside the office. 
 
 French workplace expert Xavier Zunigo told the Guardian that the law might not appeal to most workers because they don’t want to lose the "autonomy and flexibility�? technology offers them. 
 
 According to the BBC, France has had 35-hour work weeks since 2000. 
 
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 The law was first introduced in 2015 when French's labor minister Myriam El Khomri issued a report warning that “info-obesity�? could cause health problems. 
 
 A U.S. study, “Exhausted But Unable to Disconnect,�? authored by three university professors, showed that not only does checking emails causes stress, but the anticipation of receiving an answer. 
 
 “What we find is that people who feel they have to respond to emails on their off hours become emotionally exhausted, partially because they can’t detach from work,�? Colorado State University Prof. Samantha Conroy said in the study. 
 
 “They are not able to separate from work when they go home, which is when they are supposed to be recovering their resources.�? ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The measure was signed into law in May 
 
 France employees are getting the legal right to avoid work emails outside working hours. 
 
 The new law, which has been dubbed the "right to disconnect", comes into force on 1 January. 
 
 Companies with more than 50 workers will be obliged to draw up a charter of good conduct, setting out the hours when staff are not supposed to send or answer emails. 
 
 France has a working week of 35 hours, in place since 2000. 
 
 Supporters of the new law say that employees who are expected to check and reply to their work emails out of hours are not being paid fairly for their overtime, and that the practice carries a risk of stress, burnout, sleep problems and relationship difficulties. 
 
 The measure is part of a set of labour laws introduced in May. 
 
 It was the only one of the laws - which also made it easier for firms to hire and fire employees - that did not generate widespread protest and strikes. 
 
 Some private companies have previously tried to put limits on their employees' use of work email outside working hours. 
 
 For instance, in 2014, the German vehicle-maker Daimler set up an optional service for workers going on holiday; instead of sending an out-of-office reply, they could opt to have all new emails automatically deleted while they were away. ||||| Just in case you weren't jealous enough of the French already, what with their effortless style, lovely accents and collective will to calorie control, they have now just banned bosses from bothering them once the working day is done. 
 
 Well, sort of. Après noticing that the ability of bosses to invade their employees' home lives via smartphone at any heure of the day or night was enabling real work hours to extend further and further beyond the 35-hour week the country famously introduced in 1999, workers' unions have been fighting back. Now employers' federations and unions have signed a new, legally binding labour agreement that will require employers to make sure staff "disconnect" outside of working hours. 
 
 Under the deal, which affects around 250,000 employees in the technology and consultancy sectors (including the French arms of Google, Facebook, Deloitte and PwC), employees will also have to resist the temptation to look at work-related material on their computers or smartphones – or any other kind of malevolent intrusion into the time they have been nationally mandated to spend on whatever the French call la dolce vita. And companies must ensure that their employees come under no pressure to do so. Thus the spirit of the law – and of France – as well as the letter shall be observed. 
 
 That's right. While we poor, pallid, cowering Brits scurry about, increasingly cowed by the threat of recession-based redundancy and government measures that privilege bosses' and shareholder comfort over workers' rights, the continentals are clocking off. While we're staring down the barrel of another late one/extra shift/all-nighter, across the Channel they're sipping sancerre and contemplating at least the second half of a cinq à sept before going home to enjoy the rest of that lovely "work/133-hours-per-week-of-life" balance. 
 
 C'est all right pour some, quoi? 
 
 • This article was amended on 11 April 2014. An earlier version stated that the labour deal would affect "a million employees" and require staff "to switch off their phones after 6pm". The deal obliges staff to "disconnect" from work calls and emails after working hours to ensure they receive the full minimum rest periods already mandated in French employment regulations but there is no particular time at which they are required to do so. While the deal was signed by unions representing 1 million employees, it will affect only 250,000 workers directly.
– In what may be the best French innovation since kissing and/or toast, the country has given its workers the right not to check work emails while at home. The Independent reports the new "right to disconnect" law takes effect Sunday for companies with more than 50 employees. The law requires those companies to clearly define the hours when employees aren't required to check or reply to work emails, according to the BBC. Supporters of the law say employees feel obligated to deal with work emails after hours but aren't being paid for that overtime. France's labor ministry says it wants to stop citizens from working these "hidden hours." Prior to the new law, many French workers weren't sure when they were legally allowed to ignore work emails. The resulting obligation to constantly deal with work emails could lead to increased stress, problems sleeping, relationship troubles, and more. “What we find is that people who feel they have to respond to emails on their off hours become emotionally exhausted, partially because they can’t detach from work,” the New York Daily News quotes a professor involved with a US study that found checking work emails at home kept people from recharging at the end of the day. The right to disconnect law was the only new labor law passed in France this last May that didn't lead to strikes and protests.