Should I get Paid for Overtime While Working From Home?

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Abstract

</p><p id="2645">The inability to say no to bosses' requests and to set boundaries means many are getting walked all over and taken advantage of. There seems to be more of an expectation to attend later meetings and work longer as you are working from home, so what’s the problem?</p><p id="d631">The last thing an employee wants to do is have heated conversations with their manager to justify why they don’t want to do long hours. This raises the question, do we need a law in place to prevent this hidden over time, that is causing mental health issues and burnout?</p><p id="39e9" type="7">Autonomy is calling for amendments to be made to the Employment Rights Act 1996 to ensure workers have the right to fully switch off from all work communications beyond their scheduled hours and to bring employment tribunals for any breach of that stipulation.</p><p id="8c49">As we may not be able to rely on a law coming into place right away, it may be down to us as an employee to tackle this head-on and confront the situation before it gets too much.</p><h2 id="ccb3">Here are 3 things you can do now to avoid unnecessary long hours</h2><h2 id="7ade">1. Fight for your right, to log off</h2><p id="04b3">Have scheduled work hours and stick to them. Don't be afraid to say no to a meeting outside agreed working hours. I have colleagues that set up out-of-office notes or a description next to their email signature that outlines what their working hours are and how they will only be available at these times. It may sound a bit drastic, but most of your stakeholders will take the hint. The ones that don’t you can go back to on email directly to drum home that you have a life outside work and will only respond during your work hours.</p><h2 id="4839">2. Have a candid co # Options nversation with your boss on</h2><p id="65bf">From personal experience, the more you work long hours, the more people expect this from you. They rarely acknowledge the extra hours you are doing, but know they can dump more work on you, as you will work later than everyone else.</p><p id="ce9a">When you have an open conversation with your manager and start setting boundaries, they are likely to back off and start respecting your time more. If you have an unreasonable boss, it may be time to escalate or get HR involved. This may be awkward at first, but it is better to nip this in the bud for good.</p><h2 id="67d4">3. Be disciplined and turn notifications off</h2><p id="d292">I think some of the blame has to be put on the employee. We often have habits to always check our emails and respond right away. This is often not needed and no one will die if you don’t respond to an email. Take the responsibility to turn your work phone off and close that laptop. Even hide them out of sight if you have to. Recharge your batteries and only pick them up again the next working day.</p><p id="77af">As many of you are experiencing, the luxury of working from home is a double-edged sword. We have sacrificed long commutes for longer working hours. Less face-to-face meetings, but more meetings overall. Home comforts in place of our sanity.</p><p id="9df6">Before any legislation is put in place, it is important for us to use the initiative to manage other people’s expectations and call out any breaches towards standard work hours. It is down to us as the employee to set the boundaries, as, let's be honest, most employers do not care, as long as the work gets done. Protect your lifetime at all costs. It is much more important than your work time.</p></article></body>

The pandemic has created an ‘overtime epidemic’

We should all have the right to disconnect from work. But with many employees still working from home, the pandemic has caused people to find it near impossible to switch off and get that work-life balance in check.

Working from home definitely comes with benefits and many have loved having this option. But it can also pose problems, with one of the main difficulties being the ability to separate work time and home time. As you are working where you eat, sleep, and have that much-needed family time, it is all so easy to respond to emails and keep working outside office hours.

One of the drawbacks is that many people are doing a lot more hours, but are not being compensated for them. This has caused an “epidemic of hidden overtime”. In many cases, these extra hours are not even appreciated by bosses, who can often expect it and take worker's good nature for granted.

A report conducted by Autonomy think tank found that unpaid labour was a growing concern in the age of home working, with women at a greater risk of negative health impacts and mental health concerns.

The inability to say no to bosses' requests and to set boundaries means many are getting walked all over and taken advantage of. There seems to be more of an expectation to attend later meetings and work longer as you are working from home, so what’s the problem?

The last thing an employee wants to do is have heated conversations with their manager to justify why they don’t want to do long hours. This raises the question, do we need a law in place to prevent this hidden over time, that is causing mental health issues and burnout?

Autonomy is calling for amendments to be made to the Employment Rights Act 1996 to ensure workers have the right to fully switch off from all work communications beyond their scheduled hours and to bring employment tribunals for any breach of that stipulation.

As we may not be able to rely on a law coming into place right away, it may be down to us as an employee to tackle this head-on and confront the situation before it gets too much.

1. Fight for your right, to log off

Have scheduled work hours and stick to them. Don't be afraid to say no to a meeting outside agreed working hours. I have colleagues that set up out-of-office notes or a description next to their email signature that outlines what their working hours are and how they will only be available at these times. It may sound a bit drastic, but most of your stakeholders will take the hint. The ones that don’t you can go back to on email directly to drum home that you have a life outside work and will only respond during your work hours.

2. Have a candid conversation with your boss on

From personal experience, the more you work long hours, the more people expect this from you. They rarely acknowledge the extra hours you are doing, but know they can dump more work on you, as you will work later than everyone else.

When you have an open conversation with your manager and start setting boundaries, they are likely to back off and start respecting your time more. If you have an unreasonable boss, it may be time to escalate or get HR involved. This may be awkward at first, but it is better to nip this in the bud for good.

3. Be disciplined and turn notifications off

I think some of the blame has to be put on the employee. We often have habits to always check our emails and respond right away. This is often not needed and no one will die if you don’t respond to an email. Take the responsibility to turn your work phone off and close that laptop. Even hide them out of sight if you have to. Recharge your batteries and only pick them up again the next working day.

As many of you are experiencing, the luxury of working from home is a double-edged sword. We have sacrificed long commutes for longer working hours. Less face-to-face meetings, but more meetings overall. Home comforts in place of our sanity.

Before any legislation is put in place, it is important for us to use the initiative to manage other people’s expectations and call out any breaches towards standard work hours. It is down to us as the employee to set the boundaries, as, let's be honest, most employers do not care, as long as the work gets done. Protect your lifetime at all costs. It is much more important than your work time.