44% of managers say they check work email in bed. Whilst 56% check their email whilst eating dinner.

Sept. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- - 44% of managers say they check work email in bed.
- 56% of workers admit they check work email whilst eating dinner.
- 73% of those that check email out of hours do so because they feel it is expected of them to provide a quick response.

Alan Price, director of Peninsula Business Services said, “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?”

Price continues, “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?”

Alan Price concludes, “Whilst many companies believe sending the odd email is not harmful, there have been instances where it has led to stress. Can managers be held responsible? Do they pressure employees into feeling obligated to responding to email? The right work life balance needs to be sought, if an employee finds themselves responding to work email out of hours, then re-evaluate whether they have sufficient time in the day.”

Notes to Editor:
- Peninsula Business Services is the largest employment law consultancy in the UK.
- Alan Price is director of Peninsula Business Services.
- Peninsula Business Services questioned 896 managers from a wide range of industries by telephone throughout August 2012.
- For further clarification please contact Lughaidh Maguire at Peninsula on 0161 827 8511.
- Alan Price is available for interview.