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Thursday, August 30, 2018

Working hours?

Wider access to wi-fi on trains and the spread of mobile phones has extended the working day, a study from the University of the West of England says. Commuters are so regularly using travel time for work emails that their journeys should be counted as part of the working day.  It showed that as internet access improved it had the effective consequence of extending working hours, using laptops and mobile phones.

 54% of commuters using the train's wi-fi were sending work emails. Those on the way to work were catching up with emails sent ahead of the coming day - while those on the return journey were finishing off work not completed during regular working hours. If the journey has become part of work, it should also be recognised as part of working hours.

Researcher Dr Juliet Jain said smartphones and mobile internet access had caused a "blurring of boundaries" between work and home life - and this now applied to the journey to work. Instead of technology giving people more flexibility over working, the study showed that people were working extra hours on top of their time in the office.

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-45333270

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