Over 90% of Americans demand a "right-to-disconnect" law which would protect them from out-of-hours work communication

• Emailtooltester survey finds many employees feel pressured to respond to emails after hours
• Only 41.7% of work emails are deemed relevant by employees
• Three in four workers answer work emails while on vacation

A new survey has claimed 90.4% of American workers support a “right-to-disconnect” law, allowing them to ignore work emails outside of office hours without fear of repercussions.

The study by Emailtooltester of over a thousand Americans revealed the majority of respondents are overwhelmed by the volume of work emails they receive.

On average, the survey found people receive 32 emails a day, with some getting over 50. However, only about 41.7% of these emails are relevant to their work, adding to the frustration.

Email anxiety

Though many email services offer "snooze" or "do not disturb" settings, allowing users to mute notifications outside of work hours, many workers feel pressured to respond quickly. 71.1% of respondents believe that their bosses expect immediate replies to email after hours.

These work emails make 80.8% of respondents feel anxious, while another 58.3% are more anxious about how regularly they have to deal with such emails. Three in four people admitting to answering work emails on vacation.

The survey found constant pressure to stay on top of emails is affecting workers' mental health. 78.7% of respondents have dreaded opening their work inbox, with 58.5% regularly experiencing this anxiety.

The availability of email clients, plus ready support for most email hosting platforms across devices, makes it difficult for workers to switch off mentally. Two-thirds of workers have lost sleep over an email, and 73.6% admit to communicating less with loved ones due to burnout from work-related communications.

This email stress is compounded by mistakes made in the rush to respond. Around 65.1% of respondents reported getting into trouble at work for email mistakes, with some saying they missed important emails due to inbox clutter or messages being sent to spam.

As more people feel the negative effects of constant connectivity, the push for a “right-to-disconnect” law is gaining momentum.

Nearly all respondents (90.4%) agreed that such a law would benefit them, offering protection from out-of-hours work communication.

Similar legislation has already been introduced in France and, more recently, Australia, where employees have the legal right to disconnect from work after hours.

Despite this overwhelming support, 70.6% of respondents believe their bosses would resist such a law. However, the need for boundaries between work and personal life is becoming more apparent as digital communication blurs the line.

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