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Irish bosses work through dinner, in bed

Tuesday, September 25 10:34:26

Irish managers just can't let go at the end of the working day with 44pc of them checking work emails in bed while 56pc of workers admit they check work email whilst eating dinner, according to employment law consultancy, Peninsula Ireland.

The survey also found that 73pc of those that check email out of hours do so because they feel it is expected of them to provide a quick response.

"Forget bedroom shenanigans, checking work email seems to be top priority for many Irish employees. Smartphones and modern technology have enabled us to be able to work wherever we are. It's very common for employees to have company smartphones now, so the temptation to send emails out of work hours is always there. An idea can pop into your head late at night and to make sure you don't forget it, to action an email straight away is the easiest thing to do. Although doing this on a regular basis does add up and can have a detrimental impact on our personal time. Employees should re-evaluate their time - are they spending more time responding to work email than spending it with friends and family?" said Alan Price, managing director of Peninsula Ireland.

"Employees' feel that they have to work harder in order to stay ahead of the competition and it is an individual's choice if they decide to deal with work related issues after they leave the office. Although, it should be noted that no matter what they achieve in this time, they are not obliged to deal with any work issues outside of agreed contractual hours. It is one thing for manager's to spend time sending emails at all hours however; employees should remember to enjoy their free time as much as possible. It is admirable that the effort to do work out of hours is being put in, but you can run the risk of burning yourself out. Valuable personal time should essentially be used to do anything that is unrelated to work to create a healthy balance."

"Some employers are introducing measures to prevent employees from working at home; is it necessary to take a company mobile phone home? Can email servers be suspended after times in the day?"