Bosses use technology to hound timid employees: survey

Stan Beer
Sunday, 29 June 2008 15:03

IT People - Enterprise

Technology has become a curse for many employees who wish to leave their work behind when they go home, according to a new survey. The problem appears to be that bosses now have so many options to contact their staff outside working hours and workers are afraid to say rack off.

Over a third of Australian employees are being hounded by their bosses outside of working hours according to a survey of 1,792 employees by online career networking site LinkMe.com.au. What's more the intrusion into non-working lives often occurs while on holidays.

Over half (53.5%) of these employees say that they value their jobs and are therefore afraid to tell their bosses that they object to this contact for fear of the repercussions. A further third (30.8%) object without effect.

The main culprit for after hours intrusion by employers appears to be the mobile phone, but email and SMS also figure highly.

The majority of contact is via mobile telephone calls (81.9%), followed by email (42.6%) and SMS (33.6%) and in many cases a combination of all three.

“There is no doubt that advancing technologies and greater connectivity mean that the modern employee is far more contactable than ever before,” says Campbell Sallabank of LinkMe.com.au.

“Whilst these technologies can be a very positive thing and provide for an increase in the flexibility of working conditions, they are also open to abuse from fellow workers and particularly those in positions of authority.” CONTINUE