Should we ban out-of-hours emails from bosses?

This is a thought-provoking question prompted by the piece from the BBC, which my colleague shared with me via email at 8.20am...

It has become clear that one of the sweeping changes caused by the pandemic has been an inevitable increase in working from home.  For some this has been a boon, reducing commuting and increasing flexibility.  For others though “working from home has felt more like sleeping in the office”, with the knock-on effect upon employees’ wellbeing and their related (in)ability to switch off from work.

We want flexibility and autonomy

Whilst workers and employees need protection from over-demanding bosses and oppressive cultures, how can an organisation be expected to apply a blanket approach such as the one implied by the title of this piece, when many amongst us are also looking for flexible working and greater autonomy?  We often want to be able to shape our hours around our other interests and commitments, which means we - bosses and employees alike – may want to be emailing at 7am or 7pm.

Many clients during lockdown last year, particularly those who were at an earlier stage in their career, and so living in shared or modest accommodation, recognised the “always on” condition; they weren’t even allowed out of their rooms, and so their computer, and inevitably work, became ever-present.  However, as restrictions have eased, they and we should be able to re-exert our separation from work and reclaim the many different aspects and activities in our lives.  But do we need legislation to help us?

There are enough studies and data available to demonstrate that overworking is bad not only for the health and wellbeing of individuals, but the long-term success of businesses. Yet businesses and managers still can’t help themselves pushing employees and teams for greater productivity, which almost always leads to longer hours. The “cult of overworking” lives on, and we remain focused on working ‘harder’ rather than ‘smarter’.

It all leads to another question – to what extent is legislation the answer to an unhealthy culture? 

Are we as a society in the UK willing to allow greater state intervention, or direction, in the area of workers’ rights, such as in France?  I don’t think so. Which means that the onus falls upon organisations to create a more positive culture.  Happily we’re seeing many clients and organisations taking really positive steps around employee well-being and related areas of support such as parental transition coaching.

We've also started to see some more practical solutions to the problems behind this headline, such as "Not until your working day..." in the titles of emails, but will such approaches always remain only the norm in enlightened organisations until all are compelled to follow suit?  

Clearly those who want to introduce protections in the Employment Bill to be published later this year don’t trust every organisation, or even the majority, to act without compulsion.

And even if organisations did initiate practices such as a preface to each email title, that wouldn’t prevent the over eager, or over-anxious recipient from reacting as soon as the email appears...   Will we all find ourselves in a couple of years’ time, particularly if we work with colleagues in different time zones, back with a row of world clocks on or above our computers, furiously calculating the right time to set for the 'send later' feature on our email?

Finding balance and the consequent impact it has on mental health, are hugely important issues which will need to be continually worked upon as we recover from the global impact of Covid and bounce back better…