Your Boss Could Be Fined $500 For Emailing You After Work

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A Brooklyn city councilman wants your boss to stop emailing you at night.

City Councilman Rafael Espinal is pitching a new bill that would make it illegal for bosses to demand employees check emails, texts or Slack messages after working hours, the Brownsville representative announced Thursday.

“We need to establish clear boundaries for employees so they can maintain a healthy work-life balance,” Espinal said in a statement, “and live without fear of retaliation for not answering work communications after work hours.”

“The Right to Disconnect” legislation — which Espinal plans to introduce to City Council Thursday — would require bosses with 10 or more workers to tell them they have the right to stop working after clocking off time, city records show.

The new law would not ban after-hours emails completely, but rather outlaw bosses from making post-work communication a requirement for keeping a job, according to Espinal.

Bosses who demand employees be available online after work would be subject to a $250 fine and, possibly, a civil penalty between $500 and $1,000, for repeat offenders, the bill states.

Bosses who retaliate against workers who complain will have to compensate the employee for lost hours plus a $500 fine ($2,500 if the worker was fired), the bill states.

The bill is modeled after similar laws that have been passed in France, Germany, Italy and the Philippines, said Espinal, who has found legislative inspiration overseas before.

New York City got a Night Mayor after Espinal introduced a bill based on Amsterdam’s nachtburgemeester policies.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

Correction: This story initially misstated the basis on which employers would be fined as first offenders. It is not by the number of complaints, as originally reported.