Dave Ross isn’t looking forward to all the emails if overtime is restricted

France is considering a law that would make it illegal to send and respond to emails after work hours.

KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross asked former Attorney General Rob McKenna if that is something that would fly in the United States.

McKenna points out that France has high unemployment — 10 percent overall and 25 percent among young people. On one hand, the government needs to do more to provide for its citizens. On the other hand, people worry about a work/life balance.

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“This email bill is designed for people who oppose the labor agenda,” McKenna explained.

Yes, but would a bill like that be legal in the states? Dave asked.

“It could be,” McKenna responded.

There is already a rule for workers below a certain income level ($23,660) that makes them eligible for overtime pay for work beyond 40 hours per week — even salaried employees. A new rule issued by the Obama administration on May 18 actually increases that threshold to $47,500 a year. The argument for that, McKenna says, is that if you are making, say $45,000 a year but working over 40 hours a week, you could be making less than minimum wage.

Dave wonders if companies in the U.S. will begin restricting workers’ access to email, for example, to prevent overtime expenditures. McKenna says that is a possibility. Currently, there is no recourse for a salaried employee making more than $23,660 working all the time.

“Yeah, we don’t have recourse,” McKenna said. “It’s a condition of taking the job — unless you have a labor contract, you’re not protected from working outside hours. This is the basic rationale for the French bill.”

McKenna says more strict overtime requirements makes sense in terms of abuse of workers. However, making a rule for restricting emails after hours might not be realistic.

If it comes to more companies having to crack down on overtime, will they end up asking employees to log off email and turn off their smartphones? That, or just restrict access to email, McKenna says.

So, if Dave can’t check his email while he’s not at work, he can expect hundreds in the morning.

“Nothing like waking up to 500 emails,” Dave said sarcastically.

“That’s the flip side,” McKenna responded.

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