Responding to office messages on WhatsApp after work hours? You may be eligible for compensation

Today, technology enables us to always stay connected to our loved ones and our peers. While this is largely seen as a positive, an often ignored negative of this incessant connection is that so many of us end up working overtime without even realising it. We end up "staying in touch" and responding to work-related queries not just via email but also through instant messaging applications like WhatsApp. Nevertheless, this doesn't get considered as work, in or outside of work hours;so naturally it isn't accepted as overtime if it's done in your personal time. However, a court in China has passed a ruling that may serve to change this narrative.

The courtruled that the time spent by employees on messaging app for work-related purposes outside of office hours can be counted as overtime.

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In acasebrought by an employee who claimed to have worked more than 2,000 hours of overtime in one year, mostly due to responding to messages on the app, the court ruled in the employee's favour and instructed the employer to pay for the additional hours worked.As per a Times UK report, the employee who is only known by her family name Li has been awarded around $4,365 or 30,000 yuan for work outside of office hours.

Her employer reportedly argued that Li's claims of overtime were unfounded and said that the work did not qualify as such. They said that employees only had to reply to "occasional questions" from staff.

The ruling is seen as a victory for workers' rights in China, where labour laws as per the report are often poorly enforced, and employees are vulnerable to exploitation.

Reportedly, in China, long working hours are common and on top of that, workers are often expected to be available 24/7 through messaging apps like WhatsApp or its Chinese equivalent, WeChat.

As per the report, the ruling may have implications for other Chinese companies that similarly rely heavily on messaging apps for work-related communication. This may prompt them to re-evaluate their communication policies. Furthermore, the judgement has raised questions on the legal status of apps like WhatsApp and WeChat and whether they should be subject to the same overtime rules as traditional forms of work.

(With inputs from agencies)

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