[flagged]
Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
41–50 of 238 posts
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#42[flagged]
Would’ve been better to spend that $1.8B on public services and forgo the 600 jobs. Lesson learned.
US population and working age population will continue to decline into the future due to structural demographics. As labor supply declines, it’s an ideal time to work towards improved labor rights over the next several decades. Deaths outnumber births in ~21 states as of this comment, and will come for all states eventually.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47680794 (citations)
69% of US employers report difficulty finding talent - https://www.staffingindustry.com/news/global-daily-news/69-o... - March 18th, 2026 (“Talent scarcity has become a structural challenge for American employers,” Ger Doyle, regional president at Manpower North America, said in a press release. “With demand for skilled workers consistently outpacing supply, businesses need to rethink how they attract, develop, and retain talent.”)
The demographic future of humanity: facts and consequences [pdf] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44866621 - August 2025 (400 comments)
Dependency and depopulation? Confronting the consequences of a new demographic reality - https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/dependency-and-dep... - January 15th, 2025
(think in systems)
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would install the app on the shittiest iPhone backup i have (I must have like 10 iPhones by now, i dont sell old ones) You can also perfectly use 2fa without a phone, unless your shitty company is using some shitty propietary 2fa, and even then, its just a "key" or "qr" they give you, that then you totally control and can use in mostly any 2fa compatible app, like Passwords. app from apple, 1Password, or Authy (RIP…
>You can also perfectly use 2fa without a phone, unless your shitty company is using some shitty propietary 2fa, and even then, its just a "key" or "qr" they give you, that then you totally control and can use in mostly any 2fa compatible app, like Passwords. app from apple, 1Password, or Authy (RIP) Only if they're using RFC 6238 TOTP, and not some weird 2fa app. It's ironic you mention authy because they have their…
Authy is also EOL since it was acquired by twilio and tossed into the do not recycle bin it seems...
But yeah, things can get messy depending on the specifics, but not installing random apps on your personal phone seems like a pretty reasonable line to make.
I only mentioned Authy cause it was my go-to for 2fa before they got acquired
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#44Lots of privilege in this thread showing. This is the equivalent of "what global warming, it was so cold today". Please remember that just because you aren't expected to have consistent unpaid after-hours comms doesn't mean that others don't.
Bills like this would help a lot of people who are victims of "can you just take a look at this real quick" at 6pm. It does need to be at the country level though, otherwise employers will just play off states against each other.
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#45It kind of baffles me that this needs to be a bill. I guess I'm lucky that I've never worked for a company that required me to be constantly online. (I work remotely for a US company, work European working hours, and nobody requires me to be online outside of them.)
You are lucky. This bill is for the unlucky, because luck is not a strategy as it relates to labor rights and protections.
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#46[flagged]
> This sort of thing should already be legal or illegal based on what is in an employment contract
are you saying that unfair terms are a workers own fault for signing? individual workers cant really negotiate employment contract below executive level and staying unemployed is not an option in todays economy. you need unions or laws to make sure everything is fair.
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#47Michigan is becoming poorer relative to its neighboring states. Maybe not the right time for this?
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#48Maybe I just have abnormal leverage but I've never had after hours coms be an issue. I've had two phone for basically all my working life and just don't look at it outside of work hours. Don't think I've ever been challenged on why are you not reading after hour messages. Everyone around me is professional enough to know that its a discussion that would go poorly.
Your fortunate. If you’re adjacent to operations or power, after hours comms is a common experience.
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#49Lots of privilege in this thread showing. This is the equivalent of "what global warming, it was so cold today". Please remember that just because you aren't expected to have consistent unpaid after-hours comms doesn't mean that others don't. Bills like this would help a lot of people who are victims of "can you just take a look at this real quick" at 6pm. It does need to be at the country level though, otherwise emp…
Most of the roles I've had involved irregular and long hours. In most cases, I've been happy to take these roles.
The article isn't clear how exactly this is intended to work. I think no surprise hours that aren't recognized in the terms of employment makes sense. But also I think I should be able to agree to being available if I am willing to be. Remote Michigan tech workers already have enough trouble as tech companies insist on returning to office.
Re: Michigan bill would bar employers from requiring after-hours coms with workers
#50I'm curious, how often are people getting contacted outside of work hours for "regular" jobs? I do SRE / Platform type of work where I'm technically on-call 24/7/365 but as a salaried worker I don't receive over time or anything like that. If an on-call event happens where I end up putting in 2 hours on a Saturday or Thursday night, I'd use my discretion to leave early or start late another day. In the roles where on…
It's incredibly common in retail/food service/hopsitality/etc. Usually about covering shifts.
Yeah, it’s basically cheap operators pushing problems down. My wife was in this business, and worked for a company that gave them full control.
Basically they paid like $2-3/hr (15-25%) more and fired people who called out twice. Their turnover and shrink was like half of the norm and it was a really successful business.
Low turnover is a big deal in that business. Transient employees pilfer like crazy and fuck up more. You yield a good ROI on shrink with smarter labor. A fucked up preparation or stolen cold cut ham can cost a weeks labor.