Innovatia

As well as the right to be boring, in 2017 the Code du Travail instituted the “right to log off”. In companies of over 50 employees, employ- ees have the right not to be bugged at home by calls and emails. In the interests of work-life balance, they can disconnect from all devices once they leave work. And given that French citizens set about destroying the place when Macron decreed they must work an extra two years to receive retirement entitlements (on par with most European countries), it’s no wonder they’ve achieved this right to switch off at the end of the day. In Japan, those a little heavy around the mid- dle are required to lose that weight on their

own or go to dieting classes. Known as the Metabo Law, this ruling was introduced in 2008 to reduce obesity in a country that already has one of the lowest rates in the world. The waist circumference limits are 85cm for men and 90cm for women between the ages of 40 and 75. And it’s not only the employees who will be penalised; companies who have more than a certain number of employees over the man- dated weight can incur large fines. Motivation for this ruling has been attributed to Japan’s ageing population and the fear that this factor plus obesity will put a huge strain on its health system in years to come. It makes one wonder how Ozempic (the new weight-loss drug) sales are going in Japan. And in the USA? Guns. In Florida, “No public or private employer may terminate the em- ployment of or otherwise discriminate against an employee, or expel a customer or invitee for exercising his or her constitutional right to keep and bear arms or for exercising the right of self-defence as long as a firearm is never exhibited on company property for any reason other than lawful defensive purposes.” God bless America.

MANAGEMENT By Rose Lane A nother office colleague’s birthday, an- other pass round of the hat, another cake, and another jovial rendition of “Happy Birthday”. Or maybe the office has decided to participate in that greatest oxymo- ron of all time, a fun run, to raise money for someone’s cousin’s daughter’s best friend’s cancer treatment. Or it’s that most wonderful time of the year again: the office Christmas party, a twenty-four-hour bender that starts at 8am with a Paint ’n’ Sip. But you just want to come to work, do your job, go home for a quiet weekend and binge Schitt’s Creek again. You’re no fun and you don’t care. Thus was Monsieur T., a French man who worked for management consultancy firm Cubik Partners. When he was sacked, he went to court to sue for wrongful dismissal. The case was first dismissed, then failed on appeal, be- fore succeeding in the High Court, which ruled that according to the European Convention on Human Rights and the French Code du Travail, Mr T. had the right to be no fun at work.

Human Resources

https://youtu.be/0Tn1M-MK- JBI?si=b4WLTbayoILgjfJZ

INNOVATIA

136

INNOVATIA

| Management

137