It was announced this week that 90% of managers continue their duties outside office hours with up to 13% racking up a whole two days' worth of work per week, which of course is unpaid.
The rapid rise of technology not only means that emails and phone calls can be dealt with at home or on the move, but also a whole host of other tasks, such as research, planning or simply anything computer-based, can be performed whenever necessary. This includes at 10pm on a Tuesday evening, or on a supposedly lazy Sunday afternoon. Even worse whilst on holiday.
This isn't to say that it's only managers who are affected. Many workers will do overtime, pass up lunch breaks or see their weekends vanish before them in an attempt not just to meet deadlines and keep clients happy but also to go above and beyond what's expected in order to impress their seniors.
The question that has to be asked revolves around whether this is fair or not. Seemingly the traditional 9-5 job no longer exists - just ask a teacher how much marking, planning and preparation they are required to do once the school day ends. Should employees and managers alike be filling in timesheets to note every minute of work out of office, or would this just take up more time unnecessarily? Should smartphones be switched off and laptops be shut down at 5:30pm sharp, and remain so until 9am the next working day? Or, on the other hand, should workers continue how they currently are, but then they be entitled to extra days of holiday each year?
These are valid points that companies will need to address at some point in the future. Happy and healthy staff are invariably more motivated, positive and efficient; overworked people less so, and are more prone to stress problems and work-life balance issues.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28220312
