Should you get into trouble for ignoring work emails after hours?
A new law has been passed in Australia that allows employees to not read or engage in work emails after hours.
After-hours emails or phone calls can be overwhelming and take away from personal time.
Many people already work at least eight hours a day and have little time to spend with loved ones or have time to themselves.
Those who travel to work also lose more time on the road.
Some workers also find themselves working over weekends.
Forbes reports that a study conducted during the the COVID-19 pandemic found that '70% of remote workers were clocking time on the weekends'.
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Australia has introduced the ‘Right to Disconnect’ law.
This law kicked in this week. It states that employees, in most cases, cannot be punished for refusing to read or respond to contacts from their employers outside work hours.
Many have praised the new law.
Currently, in South Africa, there are no laws around this.
After-hours work can affect the quality of relationships
Forbes states that 'employees experience increased anxiety, decreased quality of sleep and lower relationship satisfaction because after hours emails promote the constant feeling that a message from work could arrive at any moment, regardless of the time of day or day of the week'.
It also quotes one researcher, Bill Becker from Virginia Tech, who called "after-hours emails 'anticipatory stress' - the feeling of always being ready to receive a work email after hours, even if one never arrived".
Another report published by News 24 in 2016 says after-hours work emails upset family life and lead to emotional exhaustion.
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