It is a well-known fact that with the development of technology, smartphone addiction has struck numerous modern users. In contrast, the name “messenger syndrome” would be quite unfamiliar to most people. This syndrome is a phenomenon in which employees are forced to work even after they leave the office due to the continuous messages from their bosses. This syndrome is similar to smartphone addiction in the sense that both of the modern diseases occur through the medium of technology. However unlike smartphone addiction that is a highly voluntary obsession, the latter is forced upon people, and therefore can be easily cured.

France is the first to recognize this newly arousing issue of the messenger syndrome that is continuously occurring between the employee and the boss. In order to relieve the stress of the workers even after official work hours, France is strongly considering the introduction of a law named “right to disconnect,” which would go into effect in 2018 if passed. The “right to disconnect” legislation prohibits companies from punishing the employees about no responses or checking of messages during non-working hours.

This law encourages the employees to cut all connection from their work to take an actual break without getting stressed about the constant pressure from the boss through electronic connections. This implies that there would be no late-night email attacks from the boss or worries about missing an important message for the workers anymore. In other words, instead of being connected to work 24/7, the law would force companies to voluntarily disconnect themselves from the employees.

Advances in technology have given great amounts of convenience to the workplace, boosting the efficiency into a much higher level. However, it is technology that is breaking the balance between private time and official work. By connecting people with work from anywhere, anytime, it is this development in technology that is invading one’s right to take a rest. Therefore, by disconnecting the employees from work through the law, the employees would be able to feel free from the stress of work when they are officially “off the clock.” In addition, by taking a break that is completely disconnected from the workplace, the efficiency during official work hours might also increase accordingly.

According to the study conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in 2015, Korea ranked second in the list of long working hours. Likewise, Koreans suffer from inhumane, lengthy office hours. However, what is even more devastating is the fact that even after the official working hours are over, many laborers suffer from work overloads due to orders from the boss even during vacation. Therefore, if such a regulation as “the right to disconnect” becomes officially introduced into the working environment of Korea, people would at least be able to take a meaningful rest as compensation for the long work hours.

The rights of the employees would definitely be protected at least during rest hours through the “right to disconnect” law. However, there are still many issues in the Korean work environment that needs to be fixed even before such law is passed. In other words, before solving the problems in the non-work hours, the problems during actual work hours need to be resolved. The extremely long office hours and frequent night work in Korea are the greatest factors contributing to the breakdown of Korean workers. Therefore, before solving problems in the workplace that is in the suburbs of the true problem, the core issues need to be dealt with first.