As WFH Employees Start Burning Out, Companies Rejig Leave Policies

A silent epidemic of burnout is brewing as more than a hundred days have passed since work-from-home employees have felt bold enough to apply for a break. Now, a bleak sense of melancholy—once reserved for Mondays—pervades their daily existence.

- Nitasha Natu & Sharmila Ganesan Ram

Given that complaining has been deemed perverse by a culture that expects you to be grateful for even having a job, the relentless juggling of work and household chores has led many exhausted workers to seek out doctors with symptoms such as backaches and junk food binges. The phenomenon of employees feeling un willing to apply for leave during the global crisis has led the Human Resources departments at certain firms to become, well, more human. While some are building “leave banks”, others are encouraging employees to refuse work during lunch hour.

If psychiatrist Dr Avinash De Sousa has been approached by workers reporting of stress from working at home, depression over not getting holidays or feeling anxious about their job situation in months to come, psychologist Dr Seema Hingorrany has not only noted common issues such as feeling tired all the time, brain fog, mental fatigue and lack of motivation, but also physiological manifestations of burnout such as neck pain and spondylitis. “Some women have even found their menstrual cycles going haywire,” says Hingorrany.

Typically, what keeps employees from applying for leave during a crisis is the fear of not being understood.

‘Leave banks’ & virtual breaks among new WFH perks