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Seoul Considers Messaging Ban After Work Hours (thestack.com)

Posted by msmash on from the after-work dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The city legislature of Seoul, South Korea, is considering implementing a law that would ban after work messaging to employees, in an effort to reduce work-related stress among employees. Members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council proposed a revision to a public ordinance that would ban after-work messaging to employees of the city's government. The new rule is an attempt to guarantee employees the right to restand states that employee privacy must not be subject to employer contact outside of work hours. If passed, it would ban managers from contacting public sector employees after work hours through phone calls, text messaging, or social networking. Kim Kwang-soo, one of the councilors who submitted the ordinance revision, said that the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) must guarantee the rights of city workers by protecting them from undue stress. He said, "Of course SMG officials must always be prepared for the needs of citizens, but many of them are working under conditions that infringe on their right to rest."

3 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. In South Korea, business locks YOU up at night. by Pseudonymous+Powers · · Score: 4, Funny

    The city legislature of Seoul, South Korea, is considering implementing a law that would ban after work messaging to employees...

    It's about time. What a chaebol's employees choose to do between 2 and 6 AM is their own damn business.

  2. 2nd and 3rd shifts? by zerofoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you are a 24/7 shop then you should have adequate staffing for 2nd and 3rd shifts.

    If your business requires 24/7 attention and you have not staffed for that - your business will probably not survive. Emergencies can happen at any time. It is not reasonable to expect that your key staff never take a day off or a sick day. Why would you expect that they be available at all times?

  3. Alternative by hipp5 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I spent a few years working for a Canadian municipality. Work COULD contact you after hours, but you were getting paid OT (with a minimum for hour much time you got to claim, even if the actual work was only 30 seconds). If you actually got called back into work you got to claim a minimum of 4 hours (at time and a half, so really 6 hours) even if it was only 15 minutes of work. This setup allowed our workplace to deal with emergencies, but the high cost to the employer made sure it was only used for mission-critical things.