My boss loves a late-night DM. If I don’t reply, I get a “?” the next morning. We now have a “right to disconnect” policy, but nobody wants to be the first to test it. How can I set boundaries?

If your boss thinks you are shirking your job by not being on call 24-hours per day, he is living in the past. Not only is it now against the law, it is just foolish to think anyone will be at their best if they have no time to decompress.

I recommend the next time he leaves you with a “?“, wait until the next working day to answer his question. If he tells you this is too slow, let him know you don’t check your emails or phone after hours but you did respond as soon as you started work. If he still has a problem, you will need to have a conversation with him, and potentially HR, to agree on when you will be available. It is not reasonable for him to expect you to be on call, and if he is treating you this way he is probably doing the same to others.

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