Ban after-work emails and calls? Tech bosses say you might as well ban startups

https://sfstandard.com/2024/04/02/tech-leaders-hate-haney-right-to-disconnect/

by randycupertino • 2 years ago

9 18 2 years ago

sfstandard.com

randycupertino• 2 years ago

More info:

https://sfstandard.com/2024/04/01/haney-bill-right-to-discon...

https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1707729

__lbracket__• 2 years ago

correct. if you want WLB and can land a job on corp, stay there.

earthWindFi• 2 years ago

This “ban” would only apply if both the employer and employee agree to the terms.

Seems like a reasonable position.

This issue can be discussed at the time of recruiting / hiring. Reasonable working hours and “off limit” hours can be agreed upon and should be respected.

proc06• 2 years ago

This is an ironic attempt at solving micromanagement. The politicians themselves are micromanaging society, trying to create all kinds of stupid laws that backfire over and over again. What's next, are they going to try and pass laws on how many meetings are allowed every week? How about a mandate limiting how much gluten products grocery stores should have? At this point I feel CA needs the Argentina treatment and get rid of most of the government because it's creating more problems then its solving.

0823498723498722• 2 years ago

pass laws on how many meetings are allowed every week

I'm not going to advocate they should do this, but...

I wouldn't be surprised if there were more successful startups under such a regulatory regime. Most meetings are for the benefit of people who either don't know how to or can't be bothered to compose async comms.

  I must not meet.
  Meetings are the work-killer.
  Meetings are the little-death that bring total distraction.

proc06• 2 years ago

This is not about whether that is a problem or not, but rather whether the government should be the one fixing it. These type of issues are very murky and have a lot of subtle exceptions, there is no way they can create a law that would properly address the problems without creating new ones. Government is just not the right tool here. It's like using a flamethrower to toast some bread.

out-of-ideas• 2 years ago

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham tweeted a bit of an ode to late-night work, writing, “Some of the very best work is done late at night. Not just at startups, but in research too. That's when you can work on hard problems without distractions. “If you looked at emails reporting important breakthroughs, a surprisingly large number would have been sent after hours.”

ironic for the thought of "without distractions" .. all i can think of are "open offices" and "meetings" are the real distractions to a whole lot of folks; or companies so big and siloed where folks refuse to talk to other folks .. which all boil down to management problems and terrible expectations.

I do think a 4 day work week and max 30-32 hours in those 4 days would make a lot more folks happy in the long run (albeit easier said than done) - at least worth a try vs not trying at all. need somebody to work more than that, then pay em overtime... Classic example of Mike Monteiro's fyou pay me in which a lot of people dont get paid for work

loa_in_• 2 years ago

The term micromanagement doesn't apply to government regulations. We already can't say publicly things with specific meanings (e.g. slander), can't possess tiny amounts of substances that are very specific (hallucinogenic), etc.

The law of the land is in the upper bound of how extensive it needs to be.

0823498723498722• 2 years ago

Ridiculous. I've done successful startups with no home calls at all, and all after-work emails read the next morning. (before* cell phones nearly every startup worked this way)

If you want to be a services company, go ahead and have emergencies.

If you want to be a product company, plan ahead and do deep work instead.

Remember: urgent ≠ important

* in fact, in the before times our home numbers were usually public information, available to all but used by few, because either (a) it was societally unacceptable to call without having a good reason, or (b) that call cost something, if only a dime. https://www.theonion.com/creepy-old-man-has-book-filled-with...

Ban after-work emails and calls? Tech bosses say you might as well ban startups

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