Employees feel increasing pressure to respond to work messages outside working hours
According to new research from Clarify capitalNearly three in five (58%) employees feel obliged to respond to work messages outside of working hours, despite a similar number (59%) of business leaders and bosses saying they don’t expect responses from employees.
The survey of 800 employees and 200 business leaders comes on the heels of proposed legislation in California aimed at reaffirming the boundaries between work and home, known as the “right to disconnect” law.
An increasingly digitalized workplace combined with a more distributed workforce, thanks to the introduction of hybrid working after the pandemic, is responsible for breaking down boundaries.
Employees agree with ‘right to disconnect’ bill
The statistics show a promising trend: more than four in five (83%) employees express support for the proposed legislation. Although support from business leaders is slightly lower (75%), the consensus on the need to disconnect from work outside of contract hours is clear.
On average, two in five employees were found to be available to respond to messages at least nine hours a day, and employees of smaller companies (defined as having 10 to 49 employees) felt the most obliged (67%) to respond to untimely messages .
Despite calls for more flexibility from employees, hybrid and remote workers were found to be the most willing to pick up messages, suggesting there are pros and cons to having greater flexibility.
Additionally, as many as one in three business leaders expect their employees to pick up messages outside of work hours, and nearly twice as many (14% vs. 8%) are likely to oppose the bill.
As the debate surrounding the ‘right to disconnect’ law continues, the inequality between workers and companies is becoming increasingly apparent, and the world continues to watch with proposed legislation likely to have a strong impact on other states and nations.