
VW deactivates employee email outside working hours - j_baker
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLNE7BM01D20111223
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s1rech
I live in Germany, and I know many engineers who work for one of the big
carmakers (either directly or through some external company). Most of them are
under some form of collective bargaining agreement. They have a lot of nice
perks, like paid overtime (in the form of days of) and pretty good salaries.

Meanwhile I work as a developer for an internet company. I've never heard of
anybody working under a CBA, or any kind of compensation for overtime (except
for extreme cases, like working on sundays). I earn significantly less too.

So I guess unions can be good sometimes, or something.

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heydenberk
"extreme cases, like working on sundays"

Oh, Germany.

~~~
LearnYouALisp
Did you know most stores close at 8PM on weekdays?

~~~
hammock
Is that supposed to be different from the states, where many retail stores
close sometime between 7-9pm?

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cookiecaper
If you're a mom and pop or speciality shop you may close between 7 and 9
(usually closer to 9), but most of the regional or national "stores" close
between 10pm and 12am.

Grocery stores are even better, generally either closing at 12am or not
closing at all. Wal-Mart, for instance, is mostly 24 hours, and Wal-Mart is
very widespread.

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duck
It really depends where you live. In Maine, all grocery stores that I know of
close no later than 9pm. I really think that is better too, especially since a
lot of the employees are high school kids.

~~~
ams6110
Minors are already governed by federal work hour limits.

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j45
Cool idea. Sounds like you can still _send_ emails but not receive any until
work.

I noticed that mobile email doesn't always help get more work done, unless
you're the person asking the questions in the emails.

If a bb user is busy answering other people's questions... you're likely doing
their work too. The culture of "we're waiting on you" that grows in an
organization is the real enemy.

Interruptions are bad too. When someone shows up to interrupt and steal your
attention indirectly they are saying "what you're doing is not as important as
what I have to say". It might not be in those words, the act of interruption
does that. Emails, calls, have to be managed.

Somehow I manage most days to do okay with zero sms notifications, zero email
notifications on my phone and zero notifications on my computer. Nothing
beeps.

There rarely are many problems that can't wait 1-2 hours. When it's urgent,
someone emails, then calls. Poor planning on someone else's part doesn't make
an emergency in my part. If people really need you they'll send you stuff a
few hours in advance if not a few days. I reward pro-active behaviour and get
back to them really fast.

Do any of you employ any strategies to get a better email/life balance?

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yock
_Poor planning on someone else's part doesn't make an emergency in my part._

I've always hated this statement. I can understand, to some extent, not
bailing out those who are habitually poorly prepared, but how can you justify
not bailing someone out if it's what's best for your company?

~~~
nknight
Why should I be more concerned about what's best for an abstract concept than
what's best for me?

~~~
j45
(If) What's best for you is making the most money you can.

and .. if you want to achieve this by doing the least work possible, and
creating work for others, they will not help you be more successful at your
job.

A real successful team, person, and company will all believe in getting more
work done with less collective effort. So, if I make my job easier, it
shouldn't make your job harder.

Sadly, too many people in management don't get team building, team
development, but instead narrow minded views and babysitting everyone through
it.

Edit: Added the word If at the beginning, I was examining what I interpreted
the previous commenter to be saying.

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nknight
> _What's best for you is making the most money you can._

I can't even begin to fathom that mindset. No amount of money is worth my
health. None. I walked out on a great-paying job that turned into a
clusterfuck and voluntarily did nothing for a year for exactly that reason.

I worked way below market for quite a while for that reason.

I'm working somewhat below market even now for that reason.

I keep score in happiness and satisfaction, not dollars.

~~~
mattgreenrocks
> I keep score in happiness and satisfaction, not dollars.

The only way to win at society's collective pissing contest is to opt out.

I believe that this is the secret of work: find the work that gives you more
satisfaction than pain, and become the very best you can at it. The money will
follow, and it will no longer control you. What controls you now is a sort of
purpose that you find through your work. Mind you, it doesn't negate the fact
that there will be unpleasant/unsexy things to do at work. (That is one reason
why you're getting paid for it, after all.) And it may even make it harder, as
you now have a greater emotional involvement in your work.

Purposelessness will suck you dry. I think people instinctively know this when
they choose salary over happiness, they just believe it to be inevitable.

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richardburton
This is fantastic. I really hope a business-school pumps out a report on this
in 12 months' time. Emails should be dealt-with in batches. SMS and phone-
calls should be used-for critical communications.

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mchanson
Union knowledge workers. Outside of healthcare do they exist in the US?

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zbuc
Let's start a union.

~~~
billybob
I can't see how unions are good for anybody. They certainly seem to have
crippled GM for a long time. If the workers force the company into
unreasonable levels of benefits, it falters and they eventually lose their
jobs.

I'm all for fair play and sensible regulations, but if the company can't
forbid the workers from quitting, I don't see how it's fair that the workers
can forbid the company from hiring someone else.

I much prefer being on my own for negotiations. I intend to be one of the best
workers; why tie my fate to the average? And why tie the company to me if they
can find a better employee?

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geogra4
GM crippled themselves with terribly designed automobiles that no one wanted
to purchase.

Power and information asymmetry are the rule when you are negotiating with
your boss independently. He knows what the other employees at your company
make. You do not.

~~~
count
That's a funny statement, given that GM, even in their crippled state, is the
1st or 2nd largest seller of autos in the world (Toyota and GM have traded
places a few times this year, I think?). For terribly designed autos that
nobody wanted to purchase, SALES obviously wasn't a big problem for them.

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mc32
How do they differentiate critical communication which should get thru?

How would this work at a place like Amazon, for example? Even with 24hr
staffing, there are some instances when the right person(s) are needed.
Letting only messages marked as critical thru could lead to most off-hour
massages categorized as important. I can see this working in some industries,
but not all.

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Patrick_Bateman
This would never work at Amazon. Fortunately for Amazon, they're not dependent
on unions.

~~~
j_baker
It's fortunate for _Amazon_. It apparently isn't fortunate for Amazon's
employees.

[http://articles.mcall.com/2011-11-05/news/mc-allentown-
amazo...](http://articles.mcall.com/2011-11-05/news/mc-allentown-amazon-
cold-20111105_1_warehouse-workers-amazon-s-lehigh-valley-warehouse-managers)

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dholowiski
For people who genuinely enjoy their jobs, this would be quite painful. I
imagine doing this where I work and the employees would revolt.

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wooyi
Unions in developed countries with good labor laws don't make sense. They
cater to the mediocre and the masses - and their policies go against the vien
of competitiveness and innovation.

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smiler
Are you saying the US has good labour laws? I think most would disagree with
you

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wooyi
Yes. I have worked in Asia, South America. There, you can be openly
discriminated or fired without severance. _Good_ is compared to most of the
world.

