Give workers the right to ignore work messages outside work hours, and have each workplace write its own contact rules
Steps to make it happen
- The law says that when work time ends, people do not have to answer work messages.
- Each company talks with its workers and writes down rules for contact at night and on days off.
- The rules say when contact is allowed for true emergencies and how people are paid for it.
- Emails and messages sent after hours are set up to arrive at the start of the next workday.
- Workers are protected from scolding or a lower rating for not replying.
- The company keeps a record of how much after-hours contact happens and reviews it every year.
- It becomes normal for people to spend their time after work with family or on themselves without worry.
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The proposal in detail
This proposal recognizes that every employed person has the right not to respond to work contact, such as phone calls, email, and chat, outside their set working hours. It covers people who work from home and managers, and it lets the same idea be applied by contract to freelancers who take work from one particular client over a long period. Employers would be required to talk with representatives of their workers and put the contact rules in writing. The rules would state the hours when contact is allowed, concrete examples of what counts as an emergency, the order and pay for an on-call duty if one is set up, and how to handle work with people in other time zones. Accidents that threaten lives or safety, disasters, and serious equipment failures would be exceptions, and for people who are assigned in advance to stand by, the waiting itself would count as part of working time or be eligible for an allowance. Scolding, unfavorable ratings, or ending a contract because someone did not respond after hours would be banned. Employers would keep a rough count of after-hours contacts and let workers see it if they ask. For small workplaces, there would be a simple option: using a template of rules made by a public body would count as meeting the duty. A place to ask for advice about violations and a process for correcting them would also be set up.
BenefitsProtects rest for body and mind, and protects unseen after-hours work
When it is clear that people do not have to respond outside working hours, they can sleep without watching for alerts, spend time with family and friends, and use their time for hobbies and learning. Getting real rest helps prevent burnout and mental health problems, and over the long run it can also reduce quitting and absences caused by illness. Because each workplace writes its own rules, it becomes clear in advance what counts as urgent and who will respond, and the workplace can get out of a vague state where everyone is always on standby. If emergency response is handled by a rotating duty and paid with an allowance, after-hours work that used to go unpaid is treated as proper labor. Because penalties for not replying are banned, people with less power are more easily protected. In addition, efforts to finish work within working hours and to cut needless messages move forward, which gives the whole workplace a chance to rethink how it works. When people who raise children or care for family find it easier to keep working, the workplace also comes closer to one where many kinds of people can do their best.
DrawbacksMay hurt flexibility and a business's ability to respond
The strongest concern raised by opponents is that one-size-fits-all rules do not match the reality of the work and harm flexibility and competitiveness. In jobs that deal with clients in countries with different time zones, or where answering a customer's sudden request is what gives the work its value, limiting contact may mean missed chances or lost trust from slow responses. For people who want to arrange their own time, such as taking care of personal errands during the day and working at night, the rules might actually feel confining. In small workplaces, making rules, keeping records, and paying on-call allowances can be a burden, and the fewer staff there are, the more exceptions there will be, so the system may become only a formality. Also, even with rules, silent pressure from the mood of the workplace tends to remain, and loopholes may appear, such as asking for work through personal messages instead of official contact. People may be forced to cram work into working hours, making the load during work even heavier, and new disputes could arise over what counts as urgent.
Learn the background
Smartphones and work chat have spread, and work messages can now reach people anywhere, even after they leave the workplace. This is convenient, but all over the world people say they cannot fully rest in body or mind because they keep worrying about alerts from bosses or clients late at night and on days off. Responding after hours easily becomes invisible work that is not recorded and not paid, and the old systems that set a limit on working hours cannot capture it. The problem has grown as more people work from home, so the line between home and work has blurred, and as more people work across time zones. Many people answer even when they do not want to, afraid that not replying will hurt their ratings, and this is worse for young workers and non-regular workers, who have less power. For people raising children or caring for family members, having time after work taken over by work is also a heavy burden. Some countries and regions have already moved to set this right, but it is still only a few, and in an age when workplaces are connected, a shared way of thinking is needed.
Choose them ready to accept their drawbacks too (up to 5)
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This proposal was written in Japanese by AI (claude-opus-5-5, policy version 2026-10-15d) and translated by AI (claude-sonnet-5-5). Nobody has checked the facts. Read the original (日本語) How the AI writes