To not check my work emails on my days off?

[OverpaidT]

I don't work a normal 9-5 job. I work shifts and only work three days a week due to my shifts. However, my company is made up of shift workers and 9-5 workers. If I send an email I don't expect a reply for a few days minimum as I might be sending it at 2am on a Saturday night. I don't check my emails when I'm home on non-working days. I received an email which has had me questioning this and I now wonder if people who do have equipment to WFH check their emails when they are on their days off?

No don't reply to them on your days off. I have seen that in a few emails in which they have a notice under their signature that they work on 'certain days' and won't be able to reply to any emails other than those days. One this makes it clear to others which days you work and two it also tells them not to expect a response straight away. As another step you can also add 'Please contact if you need an urgent response. Just overall seems more professional, sets boundaries and directs them to the next person they can contact if they need urgent response.

Do you have an out of office message OP? Loads of people have mentioned one but you haven’t said whether you already used one yet still felt under pressure to respond when not at work. If so then you should really speak to your manager about managing the expectations of others in the organisation who have chosen to ignore your OOO.

I think it probably depends on what you do and how much you're paid - unfortunately. I am on a fairly ok wage, the company have made it possible for me to WFH with laptop so I do occasionally log on here and there if I know something urgent is going to be coming through

I absolutely won't logon when I'm on holidays though. Draw the line there

The only part-timers we have, work on a zero hours basis and we do expect them to check emails Mon-Fri. They work when needed and when they are available - we expect them to give us notice of there availability when they are aware of it. They are professionals, who get paid well for this and the agreement works both ways. We really would struggle with them if they refused to read emails during standard work days.

@saraclara

So if two colleagues are part time, and one works the days that the other doesn't, how do they ever communicate? What happens when one of them needs information or a decision from the other?

I'm astonished at the vast majority here who refuse to check emails and think it's so unreasonable to do so. In my job my life would have been much harder if I didn't. Who wants to walk into work and find there's a crisis they could at least have known about or possibly averted?

No-one should need to actively work on their days off, unless their job is such that high remuneration is involved which acknowledges the need for presence in a crisis, but checking emails takes seconds. If you're in any kind of work where things can blow up or change quickly, it makes sense surely?

They send a e-mail and the other person picks it up when they're in.

What is someone works two pt jobs? Employer 2 wouldn't want them spending their hours answering emails for job 1.

Could you put your working hours / days on your email footer?
Some of my friends and colleagues have theirs saying 'As a part time member of staff my days/hours are...'

where I work people with non 9-5 hours include their working hours in their email signature, and in their Out Of Office. That way the rest of us know not to expect a reply until they're back in. Not a biggie at all.

It’s just culture. No one will persuade me that in 99% of cases it’s essential. If you’re a ‘lower down’ change jobs, if you’re in senior management, change the culture. It’s possible.

@SimonJT

When I finish work on a Thursday both my work phone and my laptop are turned off, I don’t switch them on again until Monday morning.

Same here (except I don't work Mondays, either).

I put an out-of-office on explaining my hours/days of work, and referring people to my manager if they need a response urgently. I turn off my work phone and laptop at 1.30 on a Thursday and don't turn them on again until 8.30 on a Tuesday.

Two senior colleagues have my personal number and they know that I don't mind them ringing if it's something genuinely urgent, but they've never yet needed to ring me. And I make sure that my work is all organised and up to date, so anyone checking a client's electronic file can see exactly what's what, and all my colleagues know how to access any work in progress. Each client has their own folder in my directory. (I recently learned that not everyone is as organised - my manager was tearing her hair out when another colleague went off sick leaving loads of stuff half-done, and no-one could fathom where he was up to with anything, so a lot of urgent stuff had to be started again from scratch).

My post is only funded for 17 hours pw, and that's all they get. If the commissioners don't think that's enough, they'll have to stump up some more money!

Totally depends on the industry, the role and the the salary. It should be clear in your contract though if you’re expected to work outside of your contracted hours as and when needed.

It depends on the nature of the job and your seniority. Once you reach a certain level, part of your salary is to compensate for you needing to be available outside of normal hours in emergencies or critical times for the business. And my job, for example, is very time-sensitive so you can't have things ignored for too long.

Having said that, I don't check my emails out of hours unless there's something going on. My team knows to call or text me if I'm not there and they need me, and they only do it when it's really necessary.

When I worked in an office I didn't. I was like Dr Kelso in Scrubs - when my foot hit the pavement outside, work was forgotten.

I'm now a full-time PhD student and my supervisor is very protective of my free time. However, I teach undergrads on the side and students aren't quite so understanding generally I'll reply within "business hours" but if they have an assignment submission approaching and they're freaking out, I'll reply when I see the email.

@justicedanceson

It’s just culture. No one will persuade me that in 99% of cases it’s essential. If you’re a ‘lower down’ change jobs, if you’re in senior management, change the culture. It’s possible.

Yes, absolutely.

It's worth pointing out that it's hard to change the culture as management though!

My CEO and I have been fighting for all staff to be considered equally when it comes to demands on their time and priorities.

Our customer support staff RIGHTLY prioritise prompt communications and solutions for customers. But this created a lot of unnecessary internal pressure for things we have control over - so customer service staff were treating their colleagues with disrespect when they weren't providing answers and solutions to internal problems at the drop of a hat. I was on the receiving end myself, for example, with support staff expecting me to drop vital long and medium work for non-urgent, trivial tasks.

It's been hard work, but we've managed to build a deeper understanding of everyone's work, and what really contributes to the success of the business.

I don't want anyone, myself included, under unnecessary pressure over trivial box ticking exercises.

Just ensure that you put an out of the office message on detailing who they should contact in your absence from the office should their matter be urgent.

I always have as does dp, but he especially is salaried and paid the kind of money where it's reasonable (also checks on holiday)

@StickTheKettleOnAlice

'08:48GreySkyClouds

Yes, most of the time. It’s an expectation at my level of seniority. If you’re senior too, then I’d say you should check them; however, because you’re questioning it I don’t think you are senior so enforce your boundaries now because they will go when you’re senior!'

Yes that's the excuse dh gives too for doing it but he has an out of office for urgent queries so to me it isn't needed. Also there are pps on this thread also senior who don't so I think it depends largely on the company you're work for and the culture there.

I know what you mean...because sometimes I feel the same with my husband even though I do it 😂

I think what I’m saying is just because you’re important in your organisation doesn’t mean it’s an executive type role. Being a senior manager in McDonald’s will be different to being a senior manager in an investment bank. I don’t think the OP is in a role similar to a senior in finance, law etc

Evenings, weekends, bank holidays (we have some that are different to other parts of the country and our clients) , annual leave and non-working part time days I don't expect others to reply to emails and I definitely don't check mine. Put your out of office on and add your working days to your email signature.

I absolutely do not check my emails on my days off. I’d never stop working if I did. I’ve enough to do with my other part time job and house stuff without trying to do additional work on top!

@Mysterian

I think it's important to skim through them. If my place of work is shut I would want to know before I get there. Also, if somebody I work with has covid I would quite like to know too. I read the titles then forget about them unless vital.

Do you really have to check your emails to see if your workplace is open?

If there was a reason my workplace would be closed then Business Continuity procedures would kick in and I would get a phone call. I am happy to share my phone number with my company in case that situation arises (a handful of times in a 20 year career) rather than having to check my emails each morning

Of course you shouldn't. It's work in the same way as any other work is. If you were a nurse no one would expect you to nip in and change a quick dressing on your day off and then go home again. It's exactly the same

No, I wouldn't. But I wouldn't send work emails on my days off either.

@Nocaloriesinchocolate

Of course you shouldn't. It's work in the same way as any other work is. If you were a nurse no one would expect you to nip in and change a quick dressing on your day off and then go home again. It's exactly the same

Yes - it baffles me that people don't see it that way.

I'm always very clear that staff get an opportunity to catch up and settle in depending on the length of their absence.

I think a lot of people are pretty poor communicators and don't understand that email and messages are a-synchronous: sent at the writer's convenience, read and responded to at the reader's. Immediate attention requires a phone call.

(makes me think about Moss emailing about a fire in the IT Crowd!)

You only have to see all the stupid threads from those who don't know how to put their phone on silent in the night to see that.

Not possible in academia, you're always on. Very hard to fit it round small kids.

I check them because it helps my anxiety but I don't usually reply unless it's really important. YANBU to not check them.

@saraclara

So if two colleagues are part time, and one works the days that the other doesn't, how do they ever communicate? What happens when one of them needs information or a decision from the other?

I'm astonished at the vast majority here who refuse to check emails and think it's so unreasonable to do so. In my job my life would have been much harder if I didn't. Who wants to walk into work and find there's a crisis they could at least have known about or possibly averted?

No-one should need to actively work on their days off, unless their job is such that high remuneration is involved which acknowledges the need for presence in a crisis, but checking emails takes seconds. If you're in any kind of work where things can blow up or change quickly, it makes sense surely?

I job-shared for 18 months with no overlapping. We wrote each other emails with the relevant urgent topics so the other one could continue working. Similar to a handover to a couple of days annual leave.

We also were responsible for each other's emails. Why would I need a decision from my cover? We job-shared so all work could be decided by both of us.

The only times she would contact me was when something came up in our second language she didn't speak and our other colleagues with the language skills was also absent. Maybe a handful of times during the 18 months.

It wasn't easy but as there were 3 others in our group we used for help if there was really something we couldn't hand over in writing.

If you don't have access to your emails on your private phone or laptop it doesn't take seconds to check, it takes several minutes to log in thanks to very complicated log-in procedures. Why should I have my work laptop running all day?