Working overtime is par for the course in many jobs. What might get you through it is knowing that once the crunch period passes, you can claim a few hours for yourself by working “undertime.”
Businesswoman Kelly Brosnan likes to take her undertime at a salon.
“Having my own business, you don’t have regular, 9 to 5 days,” says Brosnan, who is co-founder and vice president of Gift Mistress, a corporate concierge and personal shopping firm. “Many weeknights I’m at my computer at 11, sending e-mails. But then I can say, `Gee, Kelly, you could make a 10 a.m. pedicure tomorrow morning,’ because I’ve been up the night before working.”
Going to the salon helps her relax and deal with stress. “It’s more than just `I want to have pretty polish on my toes,'” she says. “It’s part of having good health and treating yourself well.”
Being her own boss makes it easy for Brosnan to call the shots. But what about offices where it may or may not be kosher to schedule a midday massage?
Work/life consultant Carol Sladek, who works at Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire, sees a trend toward more flexibility in defining the workday and work hours. While undertime is a term coined by author Tom DeMarco in his book “Slack” (Broadway Books, $14), Sladek refers to it as informal comp time.
“Employees are working more and more,” she says, “and employers are trying to do more with less. Employers are experimenting with more generous flex-time policies, but they are also very nervous about giving people more time off officially. It’s done at the manager’s discretion and not across the board.”
A deterrent to setting across-the-board policies, says Sladek, is that “employees are very fearful in this economy. It’s hard for many employees to buy into the idea that it’s OK to take hours off, even if managers are saying it’s OK and that the company wants to help with life balance. A lot of employees feel vulnerable and fearful and people still hesitate to do it.”
Steve Viscusi, author of “On the Job: How to Make It in the Real World of Work” (Three Rivers Press, $14), maintains that there is good reason to be fearful. “Who needs R&R during a recession?” he says. “While it’s nice to reward yourself, the real reward is to have the job. In this economy you’re lucky to have a job at all.”
If a woman has time for a manicure, he argues, she could be sending the message that she doesn’t have enough to do or that her job is not that important.
He thinks that in a sluggish economy, people are more likely to be underworked than swamped. If that’s the case, he says, they should cultivate the art of looking busy–putting in extra hours and avoiding the temptation to pass the time playing computer solitaire.
There may be one more round of layoffs before the economy turns around completely, he says, adding that: “Even if the economy picks up this year, bright prospects for getting a new job or being promoted won’t appear until the first quarter of 2003.”
If a boss is looking to lay people off, “the most minuscule thing about a worker can help a manager justify letting him or her go,” he says. “The decision is no longer made on the basis of seniority, merit or qualifications and may be made on the most personal level,” he says. “Someone who looks like they don’t have enough to do is an easy target.”
Workplace psychologist Beverly Smallwood disagrees that employees are killing time. “They’re really stretched to the max,” she says. “Flexible hours give them a much-needed break so they can replenish their lives and souls after they’ve worked so hard. And it bonds employees to the organization because symbolically the organization is saying `we care about you as a whole person.’ “
To be successful at working undertime, Sladek says, first assess your company culture. “There are a lot of environments where frankly this wouldn’t work,” she says, “where people are focused mainly on face time.”
If, however, management is receptive to the concept, both workers and managers should look at results and getting the job done, rather than hours, Sladek says. And managers should encourage workers to get balance in their lives.
Another key is having a good relationship with your boss. “There has to be a level of trust to make it work. If you get your work done, it shouldn’t matter who is there and when they are there. There’s nothing wrong with taking time off in the middle of the day.”
It’s also important to build trust with co-workers because “people at the same level are the first to turn on each other” if one is perceived to be slacking.
And a heads-up for women: “If a man and a woman both leave for appointments in the middle of the day, women are viewed with more scrutiny . . . women are often perceived as not as dedicated to their careers and employers [as men are].”
Seattle-based social psychologist Jane Adams says women often find it’s tough to allot any time for themselves. “Taking 10 minutes or one hour or an evening `just for me’ is a challenge for most women. There are so many other things competing for that little bit of discretionary time, especially with someone who is juggling work and family life. But it [personal time] is essential to keep yourself functioning.”
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E-mail: jfitzgerald@tribune.com
