Yahoo Finance Why you should check work emails on the weekend
A quick email on a Sunday afternoon could help anxious workers alleviate stress, a new study has found, suggesting blanket email rules may hurt some workers.
The new research from the University of Sussex found policies restricting email access outside of working hours could actually backfire and negatively impact workers’ happiness.
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That’s because the four main reasons workers logged on after work were to get their work done effectively; have greater control over their work; look after their wellbeing; or check in with a coworker they were concerned about.
As a result, workers with “high levels of anxiety and neuroticism” could be negatively impacted by black and white rules.
Workers stressed out by the prospect of an inbox overflowing with emails on Monday morning could also be negatively affected.
"[Blanket bans] would be unlikely to be welcomed by employees who prioritise work performance goals and who would prefer to attend to work outside of hours if it helps them get their tasks completed,” senior lecturer in management at the University of Sussex Business School, Dr Emma Russell told the BBC.
"People need to deal with email in the way that suits their personality and their goal priorities in order to feel like they are adequately managing their workload."
But it’s not uncommon for companies to instigate these policies.
In 2011, Volkswagen changed its email systems so that emails can only be sent to inboxes beginning half and hour before the workday begins and half an hour after, with emails also blocked during the weekend.
Lidl has also banned internal email traffic between 6pm and 7am, while Allianz has told workers they’re not required to answer emails on weekends or on holidays.
Daimler automatically deletes emails that are sent while someone is on annual leave.
And in 2017, France passed a law requiring companies with more than 50 employees to have hours when staff should not send or answer emails.
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