In India, there is a common consensus among those working corporate jobs – that working beyond your work hours is working hard. Working beyond work hours or being available to respond to work calls/emails is glorified and those doing so often receive quicker promotions and increments. However, working for long hours doesn’t necessarily mean that the employee is working hard. In fact, those who finish work within their work hours tend to be more competent. Also, at a time when there’s such a massive discourse on work-life balance, being expected to be available beyond work hours is a shame.
However, innumerable professionals receive work calls, emails and messages way past their work hours and they are expected to respond. A fresher took to Reddit’s r/developersindia subreddit to ask if it is reasonable to avoid such calls after work hours. He is scared that his manager might reprimand him someday for not being available.
“I am a fresher with a wfh job but I am fed up of my colleague pinging me every day after 7/8 pm. I log off and next day feel guilty/entitled because sometimes he pings in common chat with manager. I feel like someday my manager is going to reprimand me for not responding. What should I do? He is a senior and I respect him a lot but I just have things like gym, going out, preparing for exams etc. to do in my free time,” he wrote on X.
Have a look at the professional’s full post here:
Is it reasonable to avoid working after 7:00 p.m.?
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Several people responded to the post with what they personally do in such cases. Most of them do not respond beyond work hours, while others have updated statuses notifying others of their work hours, beyond which they are not obligated to respond. Mostly, people claim that it is perfectly justified to not respond to work-related messages and emails after the given hours.
Here’s a look at some of the responses:
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