Should checking emails on the commute count as 'working hours'?

For me, this is about 'culture'. As Peter Drucker is famously quoted as saying, "Culture will eat strategy for breakfast every time". If your company culture tends towards counting every hour spent 'at' work and defining it as such (industrial age model), then my guess is that will set up a culture where employees will start to become resentful of being asked to do more than their 'monitored' hours. If, however, employees are treated like adults and feel empowered to do what they have to do to get the work done (knowledge worker age), then it will be an arrangement that will work both ways. When the time is right, an employee will feel engaged and deliver discretionary effort (to deliver against the vision and values of the company), which may include checking emails during a commute - giving valuable time back. Equally, when they need some time back from their employer for, say, a family or personal matter, they will get it without question because the employer knows they deliver on their role brief - they are effective. In my experience, work at getting the culture right and this becomes a redundant question.

For me, this is about 'culture'. As Peter Drucker is famously quoted as saying, "Culture will eat strategy for breakfast every time". If your company culture tends towards counting every hour spent 'at' work and defining it as such (industrial age model), then my guess is that will set up a culture where employees will start to become resentful of being asked to do more than their 'monitored' hours. If, however, employees are treated like adults and feel empowered to do what they have to do to get the work done (knowledge worker age), then it will be an arrangement that will work both ways. When the time is right, an employee will feel engaged and deliver discretionary effort (to deliver against the vision and values of the company), which may include checking emails during a commute - giving valuable time back. Equally, when they need some time back from their employer for, say, a family or personal matter, they will get it without question because the employer knows they deliver on their role brief - they are effective. In my experience, work at getting the culture right and this becomes a redundant question.

I absolutely agree Simon. Developing a great culture is essential. Translating that into a policy is equally important so people know what is expected of them. Colleagues of mine did some award winning research last year which showed that over half of organisations have no policy on accessing ICT out of hours leading people to fend for themselves and resulting in our "AlwaysOn" culture (www.bbk.ac.uk/.../dr-almuth-mcdowall-awarded-prestigious-ian-beardwell-prize)