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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Will you answer customer's email during your private time?
Yes. My clients are international. Typically with 12, 15 and 5 hour time differences. Therefore, my 'office hours' are generally between 5AM to 11PM, China time. I prefer they call rather than use text based comm services, as I have two choices when I type, fast or accurate.
Depends on the email...I get mine to my phone so occasionally answer easy ones in my own time from my phone.
I agree with you Viki, you have the right to enjoy your time off work without being pressured by customers or employer to turn around and work on your own time!
It often seems the world has turned into 'Live to work', instead of 'Work to live'. I'm glad that you are standing up against that mentality. Every Chinese friend tells me that they are overworked and that work crashes into their personal time and they feel obligated to see to it (or else).
Yes. My clients are international. Typically with 12, 15 and 5 hour time differences. Therefore, my 'office hours' are generally between 5AM to 11PM, China time. I prefer they call rather than use text based comm services, as I have two choices when I type, fast or accurate.
Chinese employers seem to treat employees different depending on whether they are Chinese or foreign.
Foreign employees generally can enforce adherence to their contract, and be in a better position to refuse to respond to emails/contact outside of work hours - i am paid for work hours only, not my free time. The French have the right idea in their law barring emails outside of work hours. Likewise i resist last minute attempts of Chinese managers to insist on my presence at social events, especially as i usually have other plans.
Chinese employees, especially low level employees, have the constant threat of dismissal hanging over them, despite attempts to update labor law (especially if the employee is low-skilled and has poor performance.)
At home i have two phones.
one for work that is turned off as soon as i leave the office, and supplied by my office.
the second is my personal phone. My employer does not have this number.
likewise i have two email addresses, one for work - which i don't look at outside the work-place, and a second for personal use.
I would also ensure that my employer would have no cause to contact me outside work hours - this is down to good planning and ensuring that all work is competed/in hand when i leave at the end of the day.
if they tell me last minute that there is a social event or something, i tell them that i can't attend as i have plans.
If something work related occurs when i am outside the office (usually due to some local person), it is attended to when i return to work.