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Home»BlackBerry News»News & Rumors, International News

Volkswagen stops employee email to BlackBerry smartphones after work hours

by Adam Zeis on 23 Dec 2011 09:01 AM
11
 

Volkswagen Logos

German car maker Volkswagen has taken a step toward making employees much happier by coming to an agreement to stop work emails from being delivered to employee BlackBerry smartphones after work hours. The plan states that no internal work emails will be delivered from 30 minutes after the end of a shift until 30 minutes prior to returning to work. This is a huge step in the workplace as many have complained for years that having a work device and being constantly connected just isn't right as it places strain on both work and home life. The devices will still be able to make phone calls and the changes do not apply to senior management. This is a huge step that is sure to make many Volkswagen employees extremely happy and some other companies will certainly look to follow these changes as well.

Source: BBC

Filed Under: News & Rumors, International News; Tags: email, Volkswagen
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11 Comments

Posted by Beesh1 Friday, Dec 23, 2011 156 days ago

First!! I was reading about this earlier today, it just shows how important Blackberrys are...VW are a major car manufacturer and for them to do this is just great for its employees!

 
 
Posted by sk8er_tor Friday, Dec 23, 2011 156 days ago

It's up to the user to not get other accustomed to replying to emails after hours.

 
 
Posted by Oniberry Friday, Dec 23, 2011 156 days ago

Some employers seem to think that just because an employee can be contacted at any time, it is perfectly acceptable to do so. Employees know that there are an awful lot of people and few positions in the workforce. Sometimes that may translate as going the extra mile, and answering e-mails and such during off time. What the folks at Volks have done is pretty cool in my opinion.

 
 
Posted by BaconMunch Friday, Dec 23, 2011 156 days ago

Is the ability to do so a BES settings or an exchange server (corporate email) one?

 
 
Posted by jgenn3 Friday, Dec 23, 2011 155 days ago

I have been looking to do this for certain users and not the whole company. There is not a policy in BES Express to do this on a per user basis. Perhaps in the full BES version. On the Exchange side you can only restrict logon hours for the Active directory account but since the BESAdmin account connects to the Exchange mailbox if you restriced that account it would affect everyone.

 
 
Posted by 96Ag Friday, Dec 23, 2011 156 days ago

Wow, do they also chew their food for them at lunch time?

 
 
Posted by green_ember Friday, Dec 23, 2011 156 days ago

I like this move. It shows they aren't pressuring employees to work in their free time. Sure you can say it's up to the user, but this demonstrates a commitment to work-life balance that is getting harder and harder to find in today's increasingly competitive job market. Employees now don't have to worry about whether or not it will be held against them if they don't immediately respond even while not at work. Kudos to VW

 
 
Posted by moyjoy Friday, Dec 23, 2011 156 days ago

that's pretty cool... but then why have a blackberry???

 
 
Posted by HofstraJet Friday, Dec 23, 2011 156 days ago

This is a huge employment law issue that is raging right now as to whether time spent using a BlackBerry for work emails after hours is considered work and should be compensated at hourly rates - if so, imagine the overtime they (or any other company) would have to pay. That is likely why they did this - to avoid the potential (or maybe already existing) lawsuits regarding this issue. Note that management doesn't get this privilege - that is because they are not hourly employees and this issue doesn't apply to them.

 
 
Posted by Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes Friday, Dec 23, 2011 155 days ago

Vw is poised to overtake toyota as the worlds largest automobile manufacturer this year. Wir haben recht

 
 
Posted by lkveggie Saturday, Dec 31, 2011 147 days ago

This is awesome news, coming along with my recent purchase of my first Volkswagen! Awesome news, great post!