WORK DAZE: Disturbing news for the boss that calls you late at night
Bob Goldman
It’s the law, or it soon could be.
According to legislation proposed by San Francisco Assembly Member Matt Haney, a new law — AB2751 to its friends — and it has lots of friends — an employee whose boss disturbs them outside of working hours would have a legal right to ignore non-emergency calls and emails. Even better, the employee could legally charge their boss with a crime.
As we say on “Law & Order”: “dun-dun.”
Until the premiere of “Law & Order: Irritating Manager Unit,” let’s take a closer look at AB2751.
Basically, your boss can disturb you to their heart’s content during official office hours, but when you’re off the clock, managers could be fined cold hard cash if they can’t stay off the phone, the email, the text, the Slack or activate your company’s fleet of executive carrier pigeons. You will have to be bugged three separate times before you can make a complaint, but once your boss gets on a roll, three intrusive interruptions, before or after business hours, should be a piece of cake (with a saw baked inside)!
The amount of the fine starts at $100, which seems low for overpaid managers who would find the pleasure of waking you out of a sound sleep to be well worth a C-note. Still, it’s a step forward. Once the U.S. legal system officially recognizes your right to have a private life, maybe your boss can, too.
If establishing a boundary between your job and your life interests you, better read “Your Boss Could be Fined $100 for Bothering You After Work Under a Newly Proposed California Law,” a recent article by Morgan Smith on the CNBC website.
According to Smith’s reporting, “right to disconnect” laws are already on the books in 10 other countries, including France, Canada and Portugal. Australia’s law is set to start later this year, assuming someone can convince the kangaroos to participate.
Remote workers will also be covered, by the way, which means you may have to make the hours you work even more squishy. This way you can file a complaint on a call at 2 p.m. or a call at 2 a.m. You should also be aware that while proposed legislation is focused on bad bosses, it could someday be extended to conniving co-workers, including you.
If you want to wake up your nemesis in HR at 5 a.m. on a Sunday to check the status of your expense account reimbursement, do it now. When the law passes, it will cost you.
For anyone doubtful about whether any law could rein in your power-mad manager, here are a few of the ways a boss could still make your life miserable outside as well as inside your workday.
No. 1: Beware the drop-in.
Your boss can’t reach out, but they could drop in. Be prepared with snacks and activities in case the drop-in turns into a sleepover. After a night of face painting and cupcake decorating, your boss and you will have taken your working relationship to a new level. (Try to avoid pillow fights. It could get ugly.)
No. 2: Sorry, wrong number!
The law will not look kindly on a manager who explains late-night phone calls as accidental butt dials. To short-circuit the wrong-number gambit, use a business name for after-hours calls. Answering “Sam’s Deluxe Roto-Rooter” will confuse your boss and could lead to a much better career opportunity than possible in your current position.
No. 3: It’s an emergency if I say it’s an emergency.
The California law provides an exception for emergencies but not a definition. A 30 percent drop in sales may be an emergency to your boss. To you, it’s a reason to take extra vacation. If you hear real panic in your boss’s voice, it shouldn’t be difficult to redirect their line of thought. “You want to know a true emergency?” you can say. “Finding a bloodthirsty ghoul in your kitchen is an emergency.” Follow this up with a series of shouts and cries before crashing heavily to floor with a feeble gasp of “help... help... it’s too late.”
Your boss won’t know how to respond, so after a few moments of heavy breathing, say, “Let’s discuss it in the morning at work,” and hang up. The next day, feel free to come in late. Your boss will be so happy to see that you are alive and well that they won’t say a word.
(And if they do, call me, day or night. I’m always here for you, unless, of course, I’m fighting off a bloodthirsty ghoul.)
Bob Goldman was an advertising executive at a Fortune 500 company. He offers a virtual shoulder to cry on at bob@bgplanning.com.
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