In this series, manpower reporter Tay Hong Yi offers practical answers to candid questions on navigating workplace challenges and getting ahead in your career.

Q: My colleagues and bosses keep sending me work-related messages after working hours. Can I ignore them?

A: You can ignore messages about work after you are done for the day, as long as you have assessed that the request or response can wait until the next work day, said Mr David Blasco, general manager at recruitment firm Randstad Singapore.

“It’s important to set a precedent at the workplace that you don’t want to work after working hours.

“Wanting to achieve a good work-life balance means being able to set clear boundaries about when you’re able to communicate about work,” added Mr Blasco.

People usually send work messages after working hours because they want to ensure their teams can meet deadlines, or they are worried that they would forget about it the next work day, he said.

“The most acceptable reason for your bosses and co-workers to send messages after working hours is when there is a pressing matter that they feel requires your input right away,” he said, citing work emergencies as an example.

The other common reason for sending work-related messages after work, he said, is colleagues working on different schedules, as is the case with parents who have to care for their children and continue with their work-related tasks after standard working hours.

Mr Blasco added that necessary after-hours communication includes informing your team about unpredictable and urgent matters, such as needing time off due to illness or injury, being a primary caregiver, or the loss of a loved one.

Team members should agree on how after-hours messages should be handled with managers, such as deciding on the acceptable degree of communication, and how best to respond, said Mr Blasco.

He also suggested employees give end-of-day status updates to their managers, so that their managers are less likely to message them about upcoming deadlines.

Meanwhile, employers should always show their appreciation for employees accommodating urgent after-work messages by thanking them for their flexibility.

“Employers can also offer employees the chance to reclaim the time spent on tasks outside working hours, whether they spent an hour or eight hours on work,” he said.

He noted that one-third of the Singapore workers Randstad surveyed between July and September reported they tend to work overtime because they receive after-work messages at night and during the weekend, underscoring the need to provide workers with time off in-lieu.

Some employees may act on after-work messages because they see it as a chance to show their commitment to their work and earn “brownie points” for doing so, said Ms Linda Teo, country manager at recruitment firm ManpowerGroup Singapore.

Others may act on these messages immediately to ensure they are not overloaded the next day, or if they know they do not have enough time in their schedule to work on the matter they were messaged about the next day.

“While employees are responsible for managing their work and ensuring that they complete their tasks on time, employers should not take it for granted that employees will work on after-hours work requests immediately.”

When acknowledging employees who put in extra hours after work to help resolve an urgent task, employers need to avoid giving other employees the impression that working outside office hours is encouraged or that they are at a disadvantage for not doing so, Ms Teo said.

Employees who repeatedly get work-related messages after working hours from the same person can approach the sender to check if they need to reply immediately or if it can wait, she added. “They can also politely tell the sender that they will reply to the message the next day, during their working hours, to set their boundaries.”

Have a question? Send it to askst@sph.com.sg