Becoming a zombie at work? Sue your boss for ‘boreout’
ARE you bored out of your skull by your dull-as-dishwater job?
You could be suffering from “boreout” — a phenomenon that is estimated to be turning 30% of France’s workforce into professional zombies.
Boreout refers to employees being underused and unstimulated at work, leading to feelings of uselessness and demotivation.
Frenchman Frédérick Desnard became the face of the phenomenon after claiming his job at Inter Parfums had turned him into a “professional zombie”. He is demanding à360 000 (about R5.4-million) for his distress.
Desnard alleged he was stripped of his managerial role and given tedious tasks to do, which left him depressed. The case is pending.
While they may not want to speak out publicly for fear of losing their jobs, some South Africans also seem to be afflicted by the phenomenon.
Such is the case with a Johannesburg computer programmer who has had to seek counselling because he is being underutilised at his company.
The programmer, who asked not to be identified, said he was doing “odds and ends” until a major project gets off the ground. “I feel so guilty because I am getting paid to do nothing. I’m a high achiever, but my need for achievement is not being met. It is affecting my self-esteem and causing me to feel depressed,” he said.
Sandton counselling psychologist Dr Lori Eddy said boreout was becoming a problem locally.
“In my practice I have worked with several employees experiencing boreout and it is often associated with feelings of depression.”
Eddy said one common cause was managers refusing to delegate duties, preferring to be in control.
“Another cause is overspecialisation — where the emanything ployee completes a small section of a bigger project that is totally removed from the outcome, thereby allowing no sense of achievement.”
Eddy found that employees “are often too scared to notify managers that they are being underutilised as they fear that this might put their jobs in danger”.
Roxanne Dallas, head of specialist recruitment company Mass Staffing Projects, said: “Management often keep the exciting things for themselves and everyone else is left to take up the mundane tasks.
“I think people will know they are suffering from boreout when they find excuses to do other than their job.
“However, I think people need to be careful of self-diagnosing themselves with boreout. I think periods of dissatisfaction in a job are normal, and often a mere change in attitude is all you need to get yourself back into the groove.
“There are many mundane jobs, such as data-capturing. Unfortunately, with the high level of unemployment in South Africa, some of these mundane jobs are not easily avoided.”
Lawyer Johan Botes, head of employment practice at Baker & McKenzie, Johannesburg, said Desnard’s boreout claim raised “interesting questions about the legal position in South Africa”.
“Does an employee have a right to interesting work? The short answer is no, but in certain circumstances, maybe.
“Generally speaking, it could be unfair of an employer to reduce an employee’s existing role to boring tasks only, especially where this is done for an ulterior motive.”
However, employees didn’t have a “general, enforceable right to be given interesting or meaningful work”, said Botes.
“Many employees face the drudgery of a mundane job that does nothing but pay the bills. An employer’s obligation to act fairly . . . does not translate into a right for the employee to demand interesting work.”
Michael Maeso, of law firm Shepstone & Wylie, said it was unlawful in South Africa to change an employee’s terms and conditions of employment unilaterally.
“An aggrieved employee may go to court and enforce the terms of the employment contract and ask the court to return him to the post for which the employee was employed.
“Obviously there is some latitude for change. Businesses change over time and so duties may also legitimately change. However, one cannot be employed as a chief accountant and then be unilaterally told to perform the duties of a clerk,” he said.
I’m a high achiever, but my need for achievement is not being met. It is affecting my self-esteem