Blackberry jam
The 'out of hours' ban is out of order, says The VillainMy employees are lucky. When they come to work for me I furnish them with all the latest gadgets. PC, laptop, Blackberry, smartphone – you name it, they’ve got it.
My employees think this benevolence is the one flaw in my otherwise brutal, heartless management style. And frankly, I’m happy for them to think that.
Because the real reason I’ve armed them to the eyeballs with the latest knockdown-value batch of goods from Barry’s Electrical Bargains (second stall, third row, Sunday market – mention me for a discount) is that they all allow me to keep a close eye on what my people are up to.
You see, I like to keep in touch with my employees. Not in a touchy-feely, ‘office night out at the bowling alley’ way. Yuck. No, I like to keep them on their toes; make sure they know I’m watching what they do; and of course remind them that as the boss, I’m entitled to govern not only the hours they spend at the office, but pretty much every hour of the day. And night.
And this is where those lovely gadgets come in. They allow me to badger my employees at any time – not just during the working day. If I need something done at short notice, or if I’m just in a bad mood and want to share it with somebody, I only need to wield my mouse, jab away at a screen or pick up the phone. Bliss.
But I read today that my French counterparts are to have this joy removed from them, thanks to some meddling unions who have succeeded in introducing a legally-binding agreement that bans bosses from emailing their minions out of office hours.
As if I didn’t have enough reasons to avoid travelling to France (including that restraining order), here’s another one.
Crucially, the rule only covers those who work in the technical and digital sectors. So presumably if your business is in these sectors and you need to pester your staff outside the 9 to 5, you have to turn up at their homes, or ‘bump into them’ at that bar you know they like to go to. There’s always a workaround.
In all other sectors – for now – French bosses can enjoy the kind of ‘liberté’ that I currently do, allowing me to ruin an employee’s evening at the touch of a button.
My advice to those bosses is to enjoy it while it lasts. It won’t be long before that particular pleasure is taken away from you.
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