Do you check work email outside of business hours? If so, when do you unplug, if ever?
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In Germany, Labor Minister Andrea Nahles has called for national “anti-stress regulation” that would, among other things, ban employers from contacting employees after hours via phone or email, NPR reported this week. Hanns Pauli of the Federation of German Trade Unions told NPR that advances in technology and growing economic pressure have contributed to burnout-related health problems and decreased productivity among workers.
So this week, we’d like to ask you: Do you check work email outside of business hours? If so, where do you draw the line? Are you unable to even access your work email outside of work, and thus stay completely unplugged at home? Do you turn off your smartphone’s ringer and email alerts between certain hours of the day? Or does your job simply require 24-7 reachability? How about when you are on vacation?
Answer in the comments.
Read the answers to last week’s question: Ever have an encounter with the police that influenced your view of law enforcement?
Featured answers:
Posted by DWinston: “Years ago, I left the office late (past midnight) and was stopped by an officer after I turned out of a rough neighborhood. As he scanned the inside of my car, he insincerely asked me If I had turned ‘right on red,’ which was prohibited at that intersection. When I accurately stated that I had not, he said, ‘OK, I had my back turned and wasn’t sure. Have a good evening.’ Had he smelled alcohol or saw a dope in my car, I have no doubt the affidavit of [probable cause] would have read: ‘Turned right on red.’ I’ve suspected every stop as potentially pretextual since the incident.”
Posted by Sonia: “LAPD gets a bad rap, but that doesn’t reflect the department as a whole. I am an immigration attorney and have had the pleasure of working with officers that are genuinely caring of victims, particularly those that work the human trafficking task force and vice.”
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