A new survey by a leading recruitment firm on the stress employees have when it comes to workgroup chats has found that employers need to set defined boundaries and expectations when it comes to work-related WhatsApp group chats.
The survey, by Excel Recruitment, showed that around 58 per cent of employees feel they are “permanently on call” and that they are obliged to answer a message from colleagues outside of work hours, with a further 32 per cent explaining that they were concerned about getting in trouble at work if they didn’t reply.
According to Excel Recruitment Managing Director Shane McLave, employers should make sure an appropriate WhatsApp policy has been put in place - with an emphasis placed on boundaries as well as the nature of the content shared.
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He told Newstalk: “It's really important that we have boundaries. People need to be able to opt-in or opt-out or up to take a break. And there shouldn't be any kind of negative comeback on people.
“It's a little bit like the Christmas party, you have many cases over the years with employment law where something has happened as a function outside of the workplace, but it still winds up in the WRC.
“You have to be aware of that there's a possibility that can be pulled in or linked into something that you didn't even know about.”
Inclusion was also an important issue that came up. With McLave adding explaining alongside setting boundaries for when employees are expected to respond, it goes both ways, and managers should make sure that no one is kept out of any work chats.
He added: “It goes both ways, I think it's really important that we make the clear difference between an official work WhatsApp group that's used for official messages, and one that may be set up by colleagues.
“The employer ultimately will be held responsible for certain things that could happen in the WhatsApp group they may not even know about it. That's really important to be aware of.”
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