Employers ''must encourage staff to switch off when offering flexible benefits''

Offering flexible benefits such as telecommuting can improve employees'' work-life balance, but organisations must ensure that they do not have any negative impact.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development underlined how modern technology can make flexible working easier - but stated that it should not lead to staff sending emails outside of their working hours or during holidays.

Senior public policy advisor Ben Willmott said that managers should lead by example by taking a break and encouraging others to follow.

Bosses who notice their subordinates are sending messages during their downtime should tactfully suggest that it is a bad habit in the long term.

"Sometimes people find it hard to switch off and draw a barrier between their work and their home lives. So I think that is something that employers need to worry about," Mr Willmott remarked.

He was commenting in the wake of research by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, which found that one in four UK employees work all day without a break.

Meanwhile, one-third of managers carry out duties during holiday time, according to a recent Institute of Leadership and Management report.
  Back