
Traditionally, one always judges his junior by the long hours he puts in his job. Bosses would emphasize on working beyond 8 hours. This old school of thought seems right at first but in today’s world of professionalism, such views are quite a misfit.
Recent studies have found that the line between work and personal time has become so blurred it’s practically non-existent. This is one of the main reasons employees are unable to disconnect themselves from their workplace even after regular working hours. Employees may not be required to be physically present at their workplace beyond the defined hours, but that does not mean that the work is done. The constant need to check emails, in order to stay “connected” with customers who demand spontaneous replies is the true culprit.
Statistics show that 78% of the employees mentioned that apart from working overtime they are also expected to be available via phone or email on holidays. A number of employees have spoken up that they feel pressurized to do so, which clearly indicates the work-life imbalance in India.
The need for overtime work is justified to a certain extent. From the management’s perspective, it requires its employees to be available at all times to address cliental issues as quickly as possible. In the case of startups where the staff-work ratio is disproportionate or in companies where the workload is highly variable, employers are helpless and thus demand for longer hours from their employees.
Even though the benefits of overtime are comparatively lower than its drawbacks, we could list out a few:
- It is flexible in order to match the labour resources to workload demands.
- Those working overtime do not require additional training as would’ve been the case if more employees were to be hired.
- Most employees wish to work overtime to supplement their income.
- However the potential problems of working post office hours could have a major impact on the firm.
- High overtime levels could affect employee morale and thereby impact productivity.
- Continuous work after hours would lead to employees complaining about lesser free time.
Sometimes prolonged overtime rates could make the employee become dependent on it to meet ends, such that when the overtime hours are no longer present, the employee may find it difficult to adjust in a constrained time limit.
High overtime can increase fatigue, turnover, absenteeism and safety incidents.
Overtime could turn out to be expensive for the employers.
It is important to remember that overtime is a function of how much work there is and how many people you have to share in that work. The best solution to such scenarios is scheduling your overtime well in advance so that employees are well aware and prepared to take in all that there is to come. Through a schedule you can allocate work systematically and save out on a lot of time. It is also essential to prepare an audit of your company’s overtime to determine the root cause of the problem before finding a solution to act upon it.
Among Indian employees the fear of losing a job has increased gradually over the last quarter. Therefore, whether they like it or not they are compelled to perform and work post office hours as is asked of them.
To keep up the spirit after office hours, you surely need a co-working space that keeps you going. Check out the co-working spaces in Hosur Road, Bengaluru or shared office spaces in Churchgate, Mumbai now.