Curb on calls after work: not possible in india, say denizens

A law in Portugal that makes work calls after hours illegal has got professionals wondering if it can be implemented here

Picture this. You’ve logged off for the day, plan to step out for a meal and just then, your boss asks you to attend an urgent meeting. Seems familiar? To make up for this loss of work-life balance, Portugal has reportedly introduced a new law that makes it illegal for bosses to contact their employees after work hours. And professionals back home are in total support of such measures, but feel it cannot be put into action here.

Denizens claim that work from home has made it impossible to adhere to work timings and they are on call all day long. (Photo: Shutterstock)

“I don’t think the work environment in India supports this culture at all. I am always getting calls from work after I log off, and I end up working all the time. Our legal contract says 8.5 hours a day, but that is not the case,” says Siddharth Roy, an advertising professional from Rohini.

Ireland also has a similar policy which speaks about the “right to disconnect” wherein employers are asked to use pop up messages to remind people that they don’t have to reply to work emails after working hours. There are similar rules in the UK, Germany and France as well.

Work from home has made it worse, agrees Esha Gill, a Product Manager from Patparganj, adding,”The working hour concept is gone from my dictionary ever since I have started working from home. How I miss saying that I have left office to those after hours work calls. Now every call I get after 7 is super urgent and to be closed then only. After work kahin jaane ka option hi nahi raha.”

Going out after work is seldom possible in such a situation. And on days one manages to chalk out time to step out, they’re often found attending calls from wherever they are. “In my previous firm, when I’d finish work and go out to a lounge or restaurant, I would perpetually be running to the washroom to answer calls. Especially during WFH, work never ends,” rues Yuvraaj Singh, an operations executive from Surajmal Vihar..

For companies that deal with clients based out of countries across the world, time zone is a challenge when considering implementing such measures, feels Kunal Mathur, director of an MNC in Gurugram. “We are catering to clients from all over the world, issues can happen anytime. We need to answer to the client in case we miss something, so things need to be in place. But as a policy, if all goes well, I do not disturb my team once they log off for the day,” he adds.

Dr Imran Noorani, consultant chief psychologist at a Delhi hospital, asserts one must divide time for personal, professional commitments. “We need to segregate time for work and personal life, else anxiety and stress creeps in, and performance dips. In the long term, this will be a loss for an organisation,” he adds.

Author tweets @anjuri

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