[imagesource: Reuters / Dado Ruvic / Illustration]

Hands up if you’ve ever received a WhatsApp from your boss or colleague on the weekend about something that very much could have been addressed on Monday?

Ja, no, hey. It is not a vibe.

The fact that the messaging app is so ubiquitous might make it feel okay for you to a) send a message whenever something work-related pops into your head, or b) receive a few messages reminding you of something at any given moment.

But just because you can, does not mean you should.

In fact, according to attorney Kavita Kooverjee’s article, there should be clear boundaries with regard to work and WhatsApp communication.

Sending or receiving instructions or reminders outside of working hours can be construed as unreasonable under labour laws.

Kooverjee explains how the Basic Conditions of Employment Act protect employees from over-work, which very much includes messaging communication:

The BCEA states that an employee may not work longer than 45 hours a week. And that an employee is entitled to a daily rest period of 12 consecutive hours and a weekly rest period of 36 hours, which includes Sunday.

Messaging outside official working hours qualifies as work, and thus you should not need to respond or be messaged during your non-working hours:

“An employee should not be expected to be available 24 hours a day to an employer and employers should not feel free to contact employees whenever they want,” Kooverjee added.

Preach.

Unless there is an emergency, though, in which case using WhatsApp makes sense to alleviate the problem quickly, which might otherwise make the company lose data or money.

MyBroadband added more from labour union Solidarity:

…employees and employers should use their own discretion to respect one another’s privacy and determine the necessity and urgency of an instruction.

“It may appear unfair if an employer starts giving instructions on a Sunday evening for the coming week while the instructions are of such a nature that they could be given on a Monday morning during working hours.”

“On the other hand, WhatsApp allows the employee to ignore the messages until Monday morning and to carry them out within working hours.”

WhatsApp messages, whether ignored or muted, can still cause major anxiety and interfere with a person’s much-needed downtime from work-related matters.

Just send an email if you have something work-related to communicate outside of working hours, right?

[sources:mybroadband&golegal]