Poll: Do you reply to work emails outside of your work hours?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Feb 2, 2019

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you reply to work emails outside of your work hours?".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 07:38
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Other (work hours?) Feb 2, 2019

My work hours are elastic and depend on my workload (some days I don’t work at all and in others I might average out 12-14 hours). I rarely receive emails from my clients during the night as the bulk of my clients are in Europe, but if I do and I happen to check my email (I always check my email a last time before going to bed) I’ll answer right way to a long-standing customer and in the next morning to a potential client (unless the job seems particularly interesting).

neilmac
Jan Truper
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Ricki Farn
Eckhard Boehle
 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:38
Spanish to English
+ ...
Yes Feb 2, 2019

I claim to provide service 24/7, so yes.

 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 00:38
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Not usually Feb 2, 2019

I prefer to answer work-related emails during the working day. However, more than once I've taken on jobs needed overnight for a meeting the following morning for my best client.

 
Yetta Jensen Bogarde
Yetta Jensen Bogarde  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 08:38
Member (2012)
English to Danish
+ ...
Yes Feb 2, 2019

especially due to the different time zones. - If I am awake I answer, but I don't start working late in the evening.

Ricardo Suin
Ricki Farn
 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:38
Member
English to French
Not usually Feb 2, 2019

I no longer have customers in terra incognita time zones or that offer a 24/7 service covering every time zone.

Philippe

[Edited at 2019-02-02 12:55 GMT]


 
Barbara Cochran, MFA
Barbara Cochran, MFA  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 03:38
Spanish to English
+ ...
One Thanksgiving Day I Did That Feb 2, 2019

Several e-mails were exchanged between me and one of my most loyal clients, who lives in Rome, one Thanksgiving morning while I was celebrating the holiday with relatives in another state.

In the first place, Thanksgiving Day does not exist in Italy, so it seemed normal to me that my client might want to discuss our work together on that day.

Also, it gave me a chance to escape from all the hub-bub (which, when you think about it, holidays can also be stressful, whether
... See more
Several e-mails were exchanged between me and one of my most loyal clients, who lives in Rome, one Thanksgiving morning while I was celebrating the holiday with relatives in another state.

In the first place, Thanksgiving Day does not exist in Italy, so it seemed normal to me that my client might want to discuss our work together on that day.

Also, it gave me a chance to escape from all the hub-bub (which, when you think about it, holidays can also be stressful, whether it's good or bad stress-it was mostly good, I'm happy to say) and go back to the bedroom I was using for sleep, if only for 10 minutes or so, before I headed back out to the family room.
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Christel Zipfel
Christel Zipfel  Identity Verified
Local time: 08:38
Member (2004)
Italian to German
+ ...
I only have customers in my own time zone Feb 2, 2019

If I get an e-mail (enquiry from a new customer in my own time zone) outside my working hours (= evening), I feel unnerved to say the least and answer only next day, if ever. If it's related to a job completed and sent the same day or an otherwise urgent matter, I normally answer as soon as possible, but only to people I already know.

 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 04:38
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Yes Feb 3, 2019

Working hours? What are these things?

 
Philip Lees
Philip Lees  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 09:38
Greek to English
No, because it's a contradiction in terms Feb 3, 2019

Replying to work emails is work. If you're working, it's a working hour by definition.

The question might as well be: Do you work outside of your work hours?


Jennifer Forbes
 


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Poll: Do you reply to work emails outside of your work hours?






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