(Reuters) - Are we working from home or living at work?

The joke has become so commonplace, it's almost a cliché — probably because it's also true. Unplugging for many people these days is somewhere between difficult and impossible.

But Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe aims to change that. The 1,000-lawyer firm gave me an exclusive look at a new policy it's unveiling today that calls for every employee globally to take one unplugged week off this year.

As in no checking work emails or voicemails or internal messages. Just ... off.

Shocking, right?

Better yet, all timekeepers will get 40 hours of billable credit for doing literally nothing.

"When the boundaries between work and home have become fewer and fewer, this is something we need," chief talent officer Siobhan Handley told me. Otherwise, the risk is "an incredibly dedicated group of professionals who are completely burnt out."

As far as Handley knows, Orrick is the first law firm to adopt such a policy, which is separate from the firm's regular vacation benefits.

It's certainly not something my colleagues or I have heard of at other firms (though workers in France, for example, are entitled by law to ignore work-related emails after hours).

I say kudos to Orrick. Frankly, I hope other employers follow suit. As one of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, put it, "Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you."

"We are always looking for ways for people to try to focus on wellness," Handley said. "There's a real understanding around the role of self-care and high performance."

Indeed, multiple studies have found that unplugging can confer physical and mental health benefits to workers – and by extension, their employers.

But it's not so easy to get people to actually do it, especially bigwig lawyers who tend to view themselves as terribly important and all but indispensable. (Or as Handley more tactfully put it, "High performers often have an inflated sense of need.")

By making one unplugged week an official firm policy – "strongly encouraged but not absolutely required," Handley said – Orrick leaders hope every employee this year will take advantage of the chance to disconnect for 40 hours.

"It's a culture shift," Handley said.

Law firms of course are a service business. No clients will be left hanging while their go-to lawyer is blissed out at the beach.

Instead, Handley said, people will designate a "buddy" to cover for them – a single point of contact to make sure the work keeps flowing, or to reach out to the unplugged lawyer in the event of an emergency.

The firm will also provide standard out-of-office language for people to use, explaining why they're unavailable.

Ideally, Orrick wants its people to take all 40 hours as an uninterrupted block of time. The firm figures that's optimal for promoting wellness. However, recognizing the unusual demands that many caregivers are facing during the pandemic, the firm this year only will allow people to take the do-not-disturb time in smaller increments.

So, um, what if people take the unplugged week but still keep checking their email and whatnot? Do they still get the 40 hours of billable credit?

That's not quite clear. It's the first year the firm has done this, Handley noted. "I think we'd look at it more on a case-by-case basis."

What about when people return? Will they face a jam-packed inbox and huge backlog of assignments, potentially undermining the benefits of a week unplugged?

"Our hope is that we'll avoid this by having each other's backs," Handley said. "The goal is that the work is getting done by others, that team members will step in and say, 'I got this.'"

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