Unplug Policy, a utopian dream or culture transformation ?

Imagine this, it is your week off and:

·?????Nobody from work has contacted you

·?????No reminders for approaching deadlines

·?????No queries regarding that important project

·?????And no one is asking you for that presentation

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

I bet most of you can’t relate to the somewhat Utopian Concept.

Weekly offs mean you won’t be in the office physically but that never seems to discourage colleagues from contacting you or scheduling a skype meeting perhaps. After all you are not being asked to punch in at the office and if I am being completely honest you might be guilty of calling your coworker on their vacation for a quick fix up yourself or maybe you are thinking of your annoying manager – the one who can’t stop pinging you on weekends or when you are on a holiday.

That all may change now !

In India a company has taken a bold step. It has introduced a strict Unplug Policy. It bars employees from contacting their colleagues on holiday. Anyone violating it faces a hefty fine.

Dream11, Mumbai based Fantasy Sports Platform has launched Dream11’s Unclog Policy, that strives to help its employees to catch a much-needed break and people can’t help being in awe of it.

Sounds like quite a dream, right?

It is unlikely your company HR is getting inspired by this, but don’t we all wish it would? Afterall Stressful working hours have become the norm. Burnouts have become a part of the work culture, call it hustle culture if you will.

One strenuous week blends into the next, Weekends goes in a blip, or a blur and it rarely goes by without your work WhatsApp groups being spammed or your email account being flooded.

Unfortunately, nearly 30% of a recent Deloitte surveyed full time 1,000 employees in the US were found consistently working long hours, less than half (43%) said that they utilize their full vacation days. Even those that do might still check their emails or take phone calls. When they were asked why, the top response was “ I worry that issues would arise if I was away from my work” , followed by “Not being able to meet deadlines” and “not meeting manager’s expectations”

Amidst all this vicious loop it is a privilege to catch a breather to unwind, relax and rejuvenate.

Amid all this, this no contact policy at Dream11 has worked like a boon for some employees. Anyone who reaches out to another employee during Unplug Time has a 1,200 USD fine to pay. And when fines are involved, we all know that people tend to take things seriously.

The company’s co-founders say that it has been a huge success, and why not ??

German automaker Daimler set a bold example when it launched “Mail on Holiday” program that auto-deletes an employee’s incoming emails while on vacation so they can fully disconnect. The sender is then notified that the email has been deleted and given the option to reach out to a colleague or resend the email when the employee is back to office.

Companies often fail to see the importance of breaks. It is a common assumption that a tiny text or a quick phone call won’t make much of a difference, but there is more to it than that you see.

·?????It disrupts the employee’s work-life balance

·?????It Instills a feeling of always being on call/always being available/accessible

·?????It puts you in pressure to be accountable/available for your organization 24 7

·?????It leads to a feeling of obligation

·?????It disturbs your sleep

·?????It induces Compulsive culture (workers feel compelled to answer work calls purely because of guilt concern for their colleagues or fear of being seen as ignorant)

This cycle of never being off work often leads to reduced productivity, burnouts, and slumps. In a culture where calling you after working hours or on holidays is normal, we fail to realize importance of a break, we don’t mind calling our co-workers on their holiday breaks as long as it serves our purpose.

Surveys after surveys are indicating that work-life balance is what makes an employee stick to an organization, or head for the exit.

While penalizing employees so heavily for calling colleagues on vacation might seem a little too much but it is more like a warning to make companies realize the importance of a break (work-life balance) and remind them of their boundaries.