The technical revolution has brought us many advantages; unfortunately, not all of these benefits are as good as they seem at first. It can be great to be able to communicate with family and friends at any time and to be informed directly about important emails on the go – but it can also become an agonizing burden that no longer allows the employee to distance himself from work and, to put it bluntly, simply switch off.
Being constantly available for employees, customers or colleagues can not only have health consequences. However, these alone give reason to think: stress disorders, high blood pressure, stubborn colds or stomach ulcers are the possible consequences of round-the-clock accessibility. For professional processes or problem solving, the brain has to perform at its best, for which other bodily functions such as the immune system or gastrointestinal function are reduced. If the employee then has to be constantly on call after work, the function of these resources remains shut down and can manifest itself in the long run in the symptoms mentioned above. Actually, it shouldn’t be a problem to turn off the smartphone in the evening; after all, it’s just a single push of a button. But a study by the Techniker Krankenkasse found that one in three Germans finds this difficult. 50 percent of 26 to 35-year-olds and 87 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds say they can be reached on their mobile phones around the clock – and not only for friends and family, but also for their employer or employees. The useful smartphone thus becomes a chronic stress factor that no longer allows for fixed working time regulations and is stressful for many people and even makes them ill.
Measures against accessibility
How can you take action against this constant accessibility? Cell phone off is one thing, but what if the boss expects the employee to be reachable after work? Many companies have issued guidelines on their own initiative to put a stop to this stress factor on vacation or after work, and have aligned their personnel management accordingly. Last year, the Federal Ministry of Labor also followed suit: The ministry committed itself in a code of conduct to contact its employees only in urgent exceptional cases, even after work. In general, employees are not obliged to check e-mails after working hours. Labour law stipulates that this may not even be required of managers, says labour law expert Nathalie Oberthür. There would only be an exception to this if one has committed oneself to on-call duty in the employment contract, for example with pharmacists or doctors. Employees are not allowed to refuse a company mobile phone, but switching it off after work is legally quite fine.
Human resources management needs to be adapted
Some companies have already taken measures to protect the working time regulation and, above all, their employees. The Volkswagen Group, for example, has set up its mail servers in such a way that no e-mails are forwarded at all outside of core working hours, on holidays and weekends. The Daimler company has also taken a first step in a pilot project: Employees can set their mailbox in such a way that e-mails are deleted directly while on vacation and the sender receives a notification. Arrangements for this measure are already being made in other areas as well. However, it remains to be noted that the mailbox setting remains a voluntary action – and whether an employee would carry it out if the boss expects something else remains questionable.
How do you deal with the issue? Write us a comment – we look forward to your experiences.
Image source: Fotolia.com, Photographer: Minerva Studio
