Working from Home After Hours? Right to Disconnect Laws, Firm Profitability and Employee Work-Life Balance
Release time：12 June 2025
Jun
13
|
Time & Date
|
10:30 am
-
12:00 pm,
June
13,
2025
(Friday)
|
| Topic: | Working from Home After Hours? Right to Disconnect Laws, Firm Profitability and Employee Work-Life Balance |
| Time&Date: | 10:30 am -12:00 pm, June 13, 2025 (Friday) |
| Venue | Room 102, Conference Complex Ⅱ |
| Speaker: |
Mark Ma University of Pittsburgh |
| Abstract: | Telecommuting technologies have enabled widespread remote work but also make it easier for employees to be contacted outside normal working hours, blurring the boundary between work and personal life. Many countries have adopted right to disconnect (RTD) laws that allow employees to disengage from work-related communications after their regular hours without facing negative consequences. This study examines the consequences of RTD laws by using a sample of firms in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Our difference-in-difference analyses find a significant positive effect of RTD laws on firm profitability. Further analyses are consistent with the higher firm profitability being driven by an increase in employee productivity. We also find that enforcement mechanisms (e.g., fines for non-compliance and dispute resolution guidance) and labor market conditions moderate the effect of RTD laws on firm profitability. In addition, using Glassdoor reviews for a sample of Canadian firms, we find a significant increase in employee satisfaction with work-life balance in Ontario after the province adopts its RTD law. Overall, our study contributes to the ongoing debate over RTD laws by documenting significant benefits of such policies to both firms and employees. |
| Biography: | Mark Ma is currently an associate professor of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh. His current research focuses on several important social and economic issues, including future of work, diversity equity and inclusion, work-life balance, corporate financial reporting and tax evasion. He have published more than 10 academic studies in leading business research journals. His research have been cited in multiple congressional testimonies and public policy reports. His studies and himself have also been interviewed and reported by various national and international news outlets for hundreds of times, including the Associated Press (AP) News, the NBC nightly news, CBS News, ABC News, CNBC, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Bloomberg, Fortune, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, POTUS Sirius XM, NewsNation, BBC News, Financial Times, The Guardian, The Register, The Irish Times, Euro News, Channel Asia (Singapore), Straight Times (Singapore), Australian Financial Review, 3AW Radio (Australia), Financial Post (Canada), The Economic Times (India),The National News (UAE), and The New Zealand Herald . News reports of his research on return to office mandates received more than 2 Billion views in2024 alone. Financial Times recognizes my research on return to office mandates as one of the business school research studies with highest real world impact. |
