Is working from home a 24-hr job?

BY Dr. Sarath Gamini De Silva

The undesirable effects of COVID- related New Normal is becoming increasingly apparent with every passing day. This is felt to a great extent in the work place. Initially, many office workers were happy that they could work from home. This meant they could avoid getting up early in the morning to get to the workplace on time, spending on clothes to suit the office environment and cut the wastage of time and energy on travelling to offices in poor quality public transport on congested roads. With a significant proportion of the work force in office jobs being women, they felt happy as they could avoid all this hassle as well as being able to attend to various household chores while working from home. Some were planning to cut down the cost of hiring domestic aids, child minders and the like as they themselves could possibly attend to all that. As it turned out this was an elusive dream to many.

On the other hand, the employers, especially the private sector, immensely benefitted from this arrangement. There is no longer the need to provide enough office space. Many companies are known to have given up rented office space and equipment thereby cutting down their expenses in a big way. They could also do away with the costly office transport services or avoid paying travel expenses. Small startup enterprises mushrooming everywhere benefitted mostly in this regard. I wonder how many of them pay special allowances to meet the costs of the employees for their internet services, computers, etc. No wonder many employers are planning to make this a permanent arrangement even after the pandemic passes off.

As a doctor seeing office workers, I see the negative effects of the New Normal on a regular basis. Many are too stressed out by the end of a long day sitting at the computer. Especially the women, having to work from home and also having at the same time to attend to household chores, looking after children, etc., are under tremendous pressure. They present with various complaints like headaches, body pains, lack of sleep, loss of appetite and fatigue. Their high blood pressure, diabetes or heart symptoms, too, have got worse due to such stress. My colleagues, in psychiatry, also report an increasing number of office employees, working from home, presenting with stress-related symptoms including anxiety and depression. It is well established that there is a significant increase in the incidence of abuse at home of spouses and children during this period.

Making matters worse is the apparent lack of fixed working hours in the “work from home” culture. The employers seem to believe erroneously that an employee working from home should be available for work for even 12 to 18 hours a day! Thus they get the work done without any payment for overtime work. They are not supposed to have fixed breaks for meals or even a cup of tea. Officers at managerial level are often at zoom meetings for hours on end. Here again the women are more distressed for obvious reasons. It has just been reported that Portugal has made it illegal for bosses to contact workers after working hours for official purposes. Since 2017 France has similarly legislated allowing people to ignore office emails and other communications outside working hours. The Sri Lankan authorities too should enact laws to prevent exploitation of the work force by the employers especially in the private sector. It is unlikely that the employees themselves will protest on their own as they consider it of vital importance to keep a job rather than fight for their rights.

Working in an office environment, meeting co-workers and having a casual chat add to some relaxation during work. After all they are human beings and not machines, and face to face interaction with co-workers is a form of relaxation that could improve their work efficiency as well. At a time of social upheaval, as at present, it also provides them with a good opportunity to discuss various issues worrying them with workmates rather than bottling them up alone at home. It has to be borne in mind that apart from changes in the work pattern, other factors related to the pandemic like children idling at home without schooling and economic difficulties due to the rising cost of living are contributory to this stressful situation. My own surveys among the patients show that the majority would prefer to go to the office at least a few days of the week. It is up to the public health services and those dealing with mental health issues to conduct a survey properly to assess the extent of the problem and make recommendations to the authorities. The so called New Normal should not be allowed to create a long lasting anomaly with far reaching adverse consequences.