The French have it right. They have a much healthier attitude to the work life balance. They passed a law 2017 giving employees the right to switch off. No longer could employees be expected to respond to work related calls, emails or text messages outside working hours.

Hidden overtime has taken on epidemic promotions with the dramatic increase in working from home. This long hours culture is simply not compatible with an organisations commitment to taking seriously the health and mental well being of their employees. But can the right to switch off ever apply to senior managers?

My boss once complained to me that his boss, not for the first time, had got him out of the shower in the morning to take a phone call. It was still very early but his boss was already in the office and needed to speak to him whilst something was fresh in their mind. Apparently his boss was also in the habit of ringing him late evening for a catch-up. All part of the long hours culture a test of a manager’s commitment.

Even if you do not have a boss who has these expectations how easy is it for senior managers to switch off? When you’re unpacking the dishwasher does your mind drift to work issues? I had a colleague who was a big football fan, went to all his team’s games. But at halftime he couldn’t resist reading his work messages. When I challenged him he said, “ well I’m not doing anything else”.

I worked for a Director who never took his full annual leave entitlement. I asked him why he said he didn’t like holidays. This was the same person who rang the office everyday from a camp site in Wales with his family just to get an up date from whoever was around because he was board! And then there was more than one boss who was never ill. By which I mean they came into work when they clearly should’ve have.

But if you were a senior manager who went home on time, didn’t take work home , took all your annual leave, when sick stayed away, never sent or responded to emails out side of office hours, could you get the job done? Would your attitude to work / life balance see you viewed as lacking ambition and commitment? If you were a French employee you know you could ignore out of hours messages from the boss or the request to stay behind to complete the task. French employees may have the right to switch off their devices but do French managers switch off their business heads? I doubt it.