A right-to-disconnect bill in New Jersey would unduly limit the autonomy employers and HR professionals need to establish effective workplace cultures, SHRM and the Garden State Council-SHRM (GSC-SHRM) wrote in a recent letter to New Jersey Assemblywoman Heather Simmons.

Simmons sponsored Assembly Bill 4852, which would require New Jersey employers to establish a workplace policy that provides employees with the right to disconnect from communications from their employer during nonworking hours. Nonworking hours would be established by written agreement between the employer and employee. An employee would have the right to ignore communications from the employer during nonworking hours. An employer would be able to contact an employee during nonworking hours for an emergency or for scheduling.

Reasons for Opposition

SHRM and GSC-SHRM opposed the bill for the following reasons:

• Compliance uncertainty: The bill lacks clear definitions of the term “emergency.” This ambiguity could lead to inconsistent enforcement and numerous legal challenges.
• Sector and role sensitivity: The legislation does not adequately recognize the different realities of various industries and roles. For example, what constitutes an emergency can vary greatly between a tech startup and a health care provider, making a blanket approach unworkable.
• Operational agility: Restricting all after-hour communication could hinder critical work processes and delay important business decisions. This could...

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