There are moves afoot in France to ban workers of certain sized companies from using work email out of hours.

Business Argus asked local business people if a rule like this would be good for their business...

Dan Smith, Director, M4 Property Consultants, Newport

We are often involved in client meetings or attending viewings during the working day so yes I do work outside the standard office hours as we do need to respond to client’s communications quickly and effectively. I like to start my working week afresh so I will spend time on a Sunday evening working through emails I have received during the previous week so on Monday morning I can forge ahead. My team each have work phones which are synced to their email accounts and the decision is theirs as to whether they reply to emails in the evenings or on weekends.

Ami Jones, Director, Aible HR

This is a tricky one as I do a fair amount of work in the evening and on weekends as it allows me to be more flexible and productive with my time in the week. If I was prevented from doing this then I think it would certainly have a negative impact on my business as it would impact the service level I provide to my clients. Also, as a HR consultant many of my clients work evenings and weekends so it would mean that I would not be able to provide them advice when they needed it, meaning they would have to wait until the week to get a response, which in an emergency situation is not great. It is also important to remember that restricting when people work is not always the best thing to do as different people work well at different times, and also there is a lot of research that supports that allowing employees to work flexibly actually makes them more productive. However, I can also see the benefits of restricting the use of work email during evenings and weekends as more employees than ever are suffering from work-related stress and burn out, and part of this is due to the 24/7 environment in which we now work. With access to emails and work documents on mobile devices we effectively never shut off which is not great for our wellbeing.

Ashley Harkus, managing partner and head of employment law, Everett Tomlin Lloyd and Pratt Solicitors, Newport, Pontypool and Usk

Many of our lawyers want to be able to work flexibly and all are given the option of being able to work remotely away from the office via a secure network. This allows them to deal with urgent matters with the speed that clients need but also and perhaps as importantly can be helpful to them if they need to fulfil personal commitments during the working day rather than taking leave. While I can see that it’s sensible to try to prevent unscrupulous employers from exploiting staff, a blanket ban would impact on the majority of responsible employers and staff who are currently able to come to an agreement on flexible working that suits both.

Kate Richards, Territory Manager, Budget Vets

In the veterinary industry you don’t really have a ‘job’ it’s more of a lifestyle choice. We work seven days a week and even the staff that are not on rota on a weekend maybe called in to assist and because they love animals and will not want to miss that call. As a manager my work phone never leaves me and I mean never. I always check a new email in case its urgent. If it is I deal with it, if it’s not then I will leave it until Monday. I think having a work life balance is obviously preferential but you can’t if you’re in an industry where your providing what is essentially an emergency service. If I worked in an industry where it could wait until Monday then I think that having a ban like this is a fantastic idea for achieving quality time with your loved ones, but for me and my loved ones they know my work phone is part of the family!

John Newell, Director, Kingston Newell Estate Agents

We are open on weekends, bank holidays and sometimes into the early evening as these tend to be the times that most house viewers prefer to visit properties for sale. The industry has changed with the vast majority of inquiries now being received from the internet. People choose to search online at all times of the day and night and many prefer to receive a prompt response when getting in touch. It’s important that we respond quickly to these requests for viewings and valuations so we use an automated system that automatically logs and replies to their request so they know we have received it and it will then be dealt with asap. I tend to deal with out of hours’ inquiries myself as I don’t think it’s fair to ask my staff to do so. If there is an urgent request for an appointment the following morning, then yes I will contact my staff out of hours if I am unable to attend but I do consider it to be important to respect my employees private time.

Kimberley Pennell, marketing manager, GD Environmental Services Ltd

If a similar rule were to come in effect in the UK, it would greatly affect my work. As a Marketing Manager, my working hours don’t end at 5, nor does the week end on a Friday. Design companies I contract with, or newspapers I am in communication with, often send emails out of regular hours when they’re working to deadline and it’s vital that we can co-ordinate. Not only that, I regularly continue my work at home and access to my email account is necessary to keep track of important information, especially in regards to maintaining up to date content across our social media channels. However, at the same time, a lot of the reasons I deem it so necessary to remain plugged into my email is because everyone else is doing the same. If a blanket ban like France is proposing were to come into effect, then perhaps the urgency I feel to stay connected 24 hours a day might dissipate.

Laura Griffin, director of Solar Buddies

The idea of this is wonderful, and maybe possible for bigger companies, but the reality for us is a lot different. Here at Solar Buddies there are only the two of us, so there isn’t really an option of not answering emails or the phone out of hours. It is difficult at times to explain to the children why you are checking your emails or answering the phone when we’re out as a family – but if we don’t do it then nobody else will and we may lose a customer.