“Don’t touch me on my WhatsApp when I’m on holiday.” This is the clear message an Indian tech startup sent when it introduced a hefty R20,000 fine for staff who message their colleagues who are on leave.
Dream Sports, a company based in Mumbai, insisted that employees take a week off and “unplug” from the company’s system every year.
“Once a year, for a week, they’re kicked out of the system,” co-founder and CEO Harsh Jain told CNBC.
“If anyone contacts staff during their time off, they would be fined about $1,200 (R20,000).”
Jain said the one-week vacation is an uninterrupted break that helps its employees to recover and recharge for the new season.
“It [also] helps the business to know whether we’re dependent on anyone,” he said.
The startup’s policy echoes similar ones to accommodate better work-life balance and a better, more inclusive workplace culture amid a tight labour market.
Last year another Indian startup, home and sleep solutions brand Wakefit, announced a first-of-its-kind right-to-nap initiative to promote afternoon naps at work.
According to Business Insider South Africa, in May last year accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers announced it would close its US and Mexico offices for two weeks a year to let staff recharge.
In the same month, Goldman Sachs implemented a scheme that allows senior bankers to take an unlimited number of vacation days. But their “nice-guy” attitude did not seem to last very long. On Wednesday, 12 January 2023, the Wall Street giant began laying off over 3,000 staff members in a sweeping cost-cutting drive, according to Reuters.
South Africans will probably cross their fingers in the hope that policies for improved work-life balance will be introduced into their companies in the very near future.
Compiled by Mashudu Mabila
Pictured Above: Don’t touch that dial!
Image source: iStock
