Poll: Should Texas Outlaw After Hours Calls From Employers
NewsWest9.com has shared a story about a bill in New York city that if made into law would make it illegal for a private company to force you to answer texts, calls, or emails after hours. Yup, If you live in New York and this bill passes, your boss would not be able to reprimand you if you didn't respond to their after hours question or comment, or call.
A Brooklyn Councilman named Rafael Espinal Jr is the one introducing this plan. He says people already live under constant anxiety and never get the time to decompress. He wants to introduce the bill so that companies with ten workers or more can not force their employees to answer work calls after hours.
This is something a lot of people already have an issue with. If you leave your job and turn your phone off you are not alone. Lot's of career choices do not come with that luxury though. Imagine if all the cops or firefighters turned their phones off after their shift. What would happen when a large fire breaks out? Who would come to help? Thankfully this law would not apply to people who serve as first responders, police, firefighters, or other emergency services. If the job requires you to be on call 24 hours a day, then that line of work would be exempt from this law.
To be clear, the law wouldn't make it illegal for your boss to call after hours, but it would prevent them from reprimanding you for not answering their late night request for more work.
Here at the radio station we will be one of those businesses that still has to answer our phone no matter what time it is, especially if news is breaking in Central Texas.