Lighter side: Deleting emails for peaceful holidays

Technology makes it hard to truly disconnect from work, so one company is offering employees the chance to take a break from their company email.

How often do you go on holiday, only to find yourself constantly responding to work emails to keep your inbox from overflowing?

German car manufacturer Daimler decided to give its 100,000 employees the option to have a proper holiday by choosing to have all new emails immediately deleted while they are away, the Daily Mail reported.

The system, called Mail on Holiday, involves senders being notified that the employee is away and their email has not been received.

The notification also includes a substitute contact for the sender to try.

“Our employees should relax on holiday and not read work-related emails,” Daimler board member Wilfried Porth told the Financial Times.

“With Mail on Holiday, they start back after the holidays with a clean desk. There is no traffic jam in their inbox. That is an emotional relief.”

Staff can choose whether or not to use the system.

Would a system like this work for your organisation?

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