1. SHRM Survey Findings: Technology and Its
Impact on Employees During Nonworking
Hours
July 12, 2012

2. Definition
 Wireless communication devices: For the purposes of this survey, wireless communication devices
include cell phones, smart phones (e.g., Blackberry, iPhone, Android), tablets (e.g., iPad, Archos,
PlayBook) and similar communication devices.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 2

3. Key Findings
 Do organizations limit employees’ use of wireless communication devices during nonworking
hours for work purposes? Approximately one-fifth of organizations (21%) have a formal policy that
regulates wireless communication device use during nonworking hours. In some cases, these limits
may be put in place in order to be in compliance with Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirements
for nonexempt staff. Of those organizations, 27% mention work/life balance issues within their
policy. Roughly one-quarter of organizations (26%) have an informal policy.
 How are informal policies about wireless communication device use communicated? Of those
organizations that have informal wireless communication device usage policies in place, a majority
express their limitations of wireless communication device use to employees directly through
supervisors or managers (81%). Other methods of communicating these informal policies are by
general word of mouth (37%) and at the department or unit level (37%).
 How do organizations without formal or informal policies limiting employees’ use of wireless
communication devices during nonworking hours address the use of these devices? Of the
organizations that do not have a formal or informal policy on wireless communicate device usage,
the majority (87%) allow their employees to set their own limits on the use of wireless
communication devices for work purposes during nonworking hours.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 3

4. Organizations with Formal Policies on Wireless Communication
Device Usage During Nonworking Hours
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 4

5. Does your organization have a formal policy that limits employees’ use of wireless
communication devices during nonworking hours (for work purposes)?
Yes 21%
No 79%
Note: n = 323. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 5

6. Does the policy only apply to company-provided/reimbursed wireless
communication devices?
Yes 53%
No 47%
Note: n = 66. Only respondents whose organizations have a formal policy limiting employees’ use of wireless communication devices
during nonworking hours were asked this question.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 6

7. Does the policy mention an organizational concern for work/life balance issues
(e.g., limiting the amount of time employees are connected to work during
nonworking hours)?
Yes 27%
No 73%
Note: n =67. Only respondents whose organizations have a formal policy limiting employees’ use of wireless communication
devices during nonworking hours were asked this question.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 7

8. Organizations with Informal Policies on Wireless Communication
Device Usage During Nonworking Hours
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 8

9. Does your organization have informal policies (i.e., managerial practices) that
encourage employees to limit their use of wireless communication devices for work
purposes during nonworking hours?
Yes 26%
No 73%
Note: n = 255. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only organizations that do not have a
formal policy limiting employees’ use of wireless communication devices during nonworking hours were asked this question.
Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 9

10. How are informal policies communicated to encourage employees to limit their use
of wireless communication devices for work purposes during nonworking hours?
Directly from
supervisor/manager
81%
General word of mouth 37%
At the department or unit 37%
level
HR communications* 7%
Other 5%
Note: n = 68. Only respondents whose organizations have informal policies that limit employees’ nonworking hours were asked
this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates that this response
option was developed from open-ended responses.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 10

11. Do informal policies apply to company-provided/reimbursed or personal wireless
communication devices for work?
49%
Yes
69%
51%
No
31%
Company-provided/reimbursed Personal
Note: n = 65. Only respondents whose organizations have informal policies that limit employees’ nonworking hours were asked
this question.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 11

12. Organizations Without Formal or Informal Policies on Wireless
Communication Device Usage During Nonworking Hours
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 12

13. Does your organization encourage employees to limit their use of wireless
communication devices to check work e-mails and do other work during
nonworking hours?
Yes, the organization
communicates to employees
to limit the use of wireless
communication devices 13%
during nonworking hours for
work purposes.
No, the decision to limit the
use of wireless
communication devices 87%
during nonworking hours for
work purposes is left to
employees.
Note: n = 119. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only respondents whose organizations
did not have a formal or informal work/life policy were asked this question.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 13

14. Within the next 1 to 3 years, how likely is your organization to adopt a formal or
informal policy to encourage employees to limit their use of wireless
communication devices to check e-mails and do other work during nonworking
hours?
Not likely 62%
Somewhat
28%
likely
Very likely 9%
Note: n = 106. Only respondents whose organizations do not have a formal or informal work/life policy and allow their employees to
limit their wireless communication device use were asked this question. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 14

15. Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Manufacturing 17%
Finance and insurance 17%
Health care and social assistance 12%
Professional, scientific and technical services 10%
Other service except public administration 9%
Educational services 6%
Public administration 5%
Retail trade 4%
Construction 3%
Information, publishing industries 3%
Religious, grant-making, civic professional and similar organizations 3%
Transportation and warehousing 2%
Note: n = 332. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 15

16. Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)
Percentage
Wholesale trade 2%
Utilities 2%
Accommodation and food services 2%
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 2%
Real estate, rental and leasing 2%
Arts, entertainment and recreation 1%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1%
Mining 1%
Repair and maintenance 1%
Management of companies and enterprises 1%
Personal and laundry services *
Note: n = 332. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. An asterisk (*) indicates < 1%.
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 16

17. Demographics: Organization Sector
Privately owned for-profit organization 49%
Publicly owned for-profit organization 22%
Nonprofit organization 19%
Government sector 7%
Other 3%
n = 332
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 17

18. Demographics: Organization Staff Size
1 to 99 employees 26%
100 to 499 employees 31%
500 to 2,499 employees 16%
2,500 to 24,999 employees 22%
25,000 or more employees 5%
n = 330
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 18

19. Demographics: Other
Does your organization have U.S.-based Is your organization a single-unit organization or
operations (business units) only, or does a multi-unit organization?
it operate multinationally?
Single-unit organization: An
U.S.-based operations only 74% organization in which the location and 33%
the organization are one and the same.
Multinational operations 26%
n = 329 Multi-unit organization: An
organization that has more than one 67%
location.
n = 331
What is the HR department/function for For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and
which you responded throughout this practices determined by the multi-unit
survey? headquarters, by each work location or by both?
Corporate (companywide) 70% Multi-unit headquarters determines HR
52%
policies and practices.
Business unit/division 14%
Each work location determines HR
Facility/location 16% 3%
policies and practices.
n = 230
A combination of both the work location
and the multi-unit headquarters 45%
determines HR policies and practices.
n = 230
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 19

20. SHRM Survey Findings: Technology and Its Impact on
Employees During Nonworking Hours
Methodology
 Response rate = 12%
 Sample composed of 332 randomly selected HR professionals from
SHRM’s membership
 Margin of error +/-5%
 Survey fielded June 9 – June 27, 2011
For more poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research
Project leader:
Robert Boyd, survey research analyst, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research
Evren Esen, manager, SHRM Research
Christina Lee, SHRM Research
Copy Editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center
Technology and Its Impact on Employees During Nonworking Hours ©SHRM 2012 20