Actuality¹⁴⁹

As the summer vacation period is in full swing and the fast pace of daily life and the gradual return to the office continue, we sometimes forget the need to maintain a balance between our professional and personal lives.

During the Connexion Expo organized by Les Affaires in June, Philippe Richard Bertrand presented the 'Test qui fait du bien' (The Well-being Test), an online tool designed by mental health experts in collaboration with the Montreal Public Health department. This tool allows companies and organizations that care about the mental health of their employees to access tailored solutions. At the end of his presentation, he emphasized that now, and in the coming months, many will struggle or fall at work, and it's important to keep in mind that we have been weakened by these two years of the pandemic.

Beyond the right to disconnect outside of working hours, there is a more comprehensive question about hyperconnectivity and digital overstimulation and their impact on health and work efficiency.

Within teams in general, hyperconnectivity is being discussed more and more, with emails, exchanges via Teams or Slack, and text messages (often outside of working hours) multiplying.

To address this issue, it is important to consider implementing concrete measures.

In June, the JCCM conducted a survey on this topic among its social media followers. Nearly half (47% of respondents) said that the boundary between their personal and professional lives is poorly defined or completely nonexistent. Additionally, 70% responded that the organization they work for does not have a right-to-disconnect policy. This indicates that companies are adopting concrete measures concerning disconnection at varying rates.

In June of last year, Habi Gerba, President and Spokesperson of the JCCM, highlighted in an open letter published in La Presse the urgency of taking action and implementing measures to equip businesses and regulate this new way of working. Following this publication, organizations contacted us to inquire about the means to start implementing a policy on the right to disconnect. Here are some of our suggestions to consider before developing a best practices guide and a formal policy for your organization:

1. Encourage the use of the email delay tool or muting notifications during days off or weekends.
2. Add a note like the following to your email signature: My working hours may differ from yours. Please, feel no obligation to respond to this email outside of your regular working hours.
3. Lead by example: Another practice that can be adopted is asking the managers in your organization to emphasize the importance of taking vacations and the benefits of disconnecting.
4. Respect scheduled rest and break times (such as lunch breaks) and avoid scheduling meetings during those times or plan for individual work periods without internal or external meetings on a weekly basis.