Since the first day of the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa, people have been faced with a lot of difficulties when it comes to working conditions. Working from home has its own advantage and disadvantages but, working hours are a biggest problem that people have faced under the lockdown. People are complaining that they work more hours than they normally would have worked under regular working conditions.
Ditebogo Mthombeni works at a PR company as a translator and has been experiencing problems with the new working hours and demanding amount of work she is being asked to do. Her job entails translating video clips from various companies such as the SABC news which are in various languages. Her job requires that she translate clips as accurately as possible. Under lockdown, her bosses keep on increasing targets. Ditebogo still wakes up at 4am and immediately start working after bathing. Without the travel time, she is now working longer hours from home and still has to wait for more clips to come throughout the night, cutting into her sleeping time.
Apart from the abnormal working hours, there are many other reasons that make working from home difficult. Whilst you are trying to work, there are other people who are in the house making noise or children who need your attention or care. With salary cuts however, it has become difficult to pay for child care.
Employers should not take advantage of their employees just because they are at home; making them work extra hours unnecessarily. Even when there are deadlines to be met, or a shortage of staff, employees’ time should not be abused during in these uncertain times.
This article was submitted on 20 August 2020. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
