Connectivity and the ability to work from anywhere may have worked wonders for flexibility at work, but it also has a flipside. WhatsApp groups and email have also blurred boundaries between professional and personal spaces, often allowing employers to disturb employees post work hours. To make sure work pressure doesn't disrupt personal lives of their staff, fantasy sports platform Dream11 has announced a Rs 1 lakh penalty for disturbing employees who are on vacation.
This means that at least employees of one company won't have to attend a call from work or be bothered by a mail, when they are hiking in the hills or enjoying the ocean's breeze. Dream11 already has a policy in place, where employees need to take at least one week-long vacation in a year, to make sure workaholics don't face burnout. For that one week, employees won't get any updates from slack, or emails and certainly no calls.
According to Dream11's co-founder Bhavit Sheth, the system has so far proven to be effective, and a hefty fine makes sure no one intereferes in an employee's personal space. The company refers to its initiative as the unplug policy, which also allows the firm to evaluate its dependence on each employee.
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