It’s Friday, and it’s 7:30 p.m. You’ve finished work at 5:30 p.m. and you get a notification on your phone about a new email from your colleague. Do you ignore it or do you read it?

You’re not alone if you feel pressured to stay connected after work hours. According to a 2018 survey, 50% of Quebec workers (sample size of 637) said they experience indirect pressure to stay connected outside of work hours (Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés, 2019).

Disconnecting from work means being able to stop working and not feeling like you have to answer work-related questions or questions from your employer outside of set work hours. There is no law in Quebec that governs disconnecting from work, as is the case in Portugal, France, and Belgium. Even though it’s not legislated, creating a healthy work environment that lets everyone disconnect from work is crucial.

As an employer or manager, there are many things you can do to encourage disconnecting from work. Here’s a summary in the infographic below.