Why You Shouldn’t Work on Labor Day

It’s Saturday morning and your boss emails you a question that can wait until Monday. What do you do? If you’re like me, you read the message while walking out of your yoga class and respond before lunch. This work culture makes the U.S. an outlier among high-income economies. Since 2017, countries including France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Australia, Slovakia, Greece, and Argentina have legislated some form of a right to disconnect. The European Union is working on a policy that could take effect as soon as 2028. In Australia, employees have the right not to read or respond to employers outside of work hours. In Portugal, mid-size employers risk fines of over $10,000 for contacting employees when they’re off the clock.As we think about the employment landscape in the U.S. this Labor Day, we should consider a similar approach that protects the right of employees to not work when they’re not officially working. This could solve a lot of problems for families and communities while actually improving job performance. Since the pandemic, the boundaries between work and home have all but collapsed. With many workers still doing a lot of remote work, many of us send our first e...