The key facts

  • Zoomers agree to overtime when there is a clear link to income, growth, or team results
  • Remote and hybrid formats do not exempt employers from tracking overtime hours
  • Overtime rules are best fixed in company documents rather than verbal promises

What influences willingness to take on extra workload

Zoomers are more willing to accept extra workload when they understand how it will affect their earnings, professional growth, or the team's results. Independent director and HR expert at the Stolypin Institute of Economic Growth Tatyana Kozhevnikova told Gazeta.Ru about this.

Differences between industries

According to Kozhevnikova, in retail, logistics, and food service, workers may voluntarily choose extra hours and shifts for the sake of income — in this situation, clear pay terms and the ability to decline matter. In office work, the link between extra effort and reward is less obvious: an employee may count on a project bonus, an annual bonus, or a promotion. If they see no direct connection between overtime and reward, career, or relationships within the team, they will most likely refuse to work overtime.

Guarantees and recommendations

The expert emphasized that a manager's expectations do not override labor guarantees: the employer is required to track the duration of overtime work, and a hybrid or remote format does not in itself exempt the employer from this obligation. Kozhevnikova advised discussing working-time boundaries already at the hiring stage — finding out whether responses are expected in the evenings and on weekends, how urgent tasks are organized, and how extra work is compensated. It is more reliable when the rules are fixed in company documents and employment terms rather than existing as a personal promise from a particular boss, she added. In her view, it is also worth considering the company's actual practice: whether late meetings are scheduled, whether people on vacation are disturbed, and whether staying constantly reachable is the norm.

Context

Earlier, as the outlet reported, the answer became known to the question of whether one should inform the employer about a side job. For readers, the practical takeaway of the expert's recommendations is that overtime conditions — pay, working-time boundaries, and compensation — should be documented before starting work rather than relying on verbal agreements.