This document summarizes a sociology of work presentation on strategies and policies employers use technologies to influence work boundaries. It includes: 1. An overview of topics like work-family spillover and strategies to delineate work time and space. 2. The research question asks about employer strategies using technology to increase work outside boundaries and reduce non-work matters at work from an employee perspective. 3. The presentation goals are to understand technologies used to influence boundaries, related strategies and policies, and how employees respond. The document then provides sample questions for interviews and surveys of employees on topics like employer-provided devices, calculating extra hours, and communication of technology policies.

1. Sociology of work
Work
&
Technology
Lecturer: Prof. Amalya L. Oliver
Student: Pablo Sektman

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb3LJZ6xP2U&feature=related

3. Table of contents of this presentation
2. Topics of interest
4. Research question
6. Questions related to the research question
8. Goals of the seminar paper
10. Research working plan
12. Some questions and answers from the
interviews and surveys

4. Topics of interest
Modern technologies as a means to
increase/decrease the work-family
spillover.
Employers’ and employees’
strategies (explicit and
implicit) to demarcate
space and time boundaries.
Non-work related activities at work as a
strategy to compensate non-paid
working extra hours from home.

5. Research question
Explicit / implicit strategies and policies
employers design using different
technologies to increase work outside
work boundaries (time and space)
and/or reduce non work related matters
at work. An employee perspective.

6. Questions related to the
research question
• Is technology being used by employers as
one of the modern ways to exploit employees?
How?
• If so, are employees aware of this? And do
they have ways/strategies to stop or
decrease this exploitation? How?
• Does technology being used by employers also bring
benefits to employees? If so which are they?
• Which technologies are being used?
• Which are the policies for the usage of those
technologies? Do those policies /obligations appear in
the employee’s contract?

7. Goals of the seminar
paper
• Learn and understand which different technologies
are being used to increase work from home.
• Learn and understand which different technologies
are being used to decrease non-work matters at
work.
• Learn and understand which different strategies
and policies are behind both of them (above
mentioned) and which are explicit and which
implicit.
• Learn and understand how those strategies and
policies are transmitted to the employees.

8. Goals of the seminar
paper
• Possible strategies and policies employees use, if any
at all, to reject and counterattack their employers’
policies and strategies above mentioned?

9. (Ideal) Working plan

10. Some questions from the
interviews
1. Portable devices (mobile telephone,
PDA, laptop, pager, etc)
• After you leave your working space, do you use
any technological device after work? If so
which?
• Do they belong to you or your employer gave it
to you? If they belong to you, Do you get money
for the service? Which percentage?

11. Some questions from the
interviews
1. Extra hours
• If you work outside your workplace, do you get money
for extra hours? How do you and/or your employer
calculate them?

12. Some questions from the
interviews
1.
• Did you have a meeting in which
they explained your conditions
and obligations to you, in
general?
• Was the usage of portable
devices (mobile telephone, PDA,
laptop, pager, etc) outside the
working place mentioned when
you signed your working
contract? If so what was
mentioned? Was it in the
contract? Or was it explained
orally only?

13. Some questions from the
interviews and surveys
• Was the usage of portable devices (mobile
telephone, PDA, laptop, pager, etc) inside the
working boundaries for personal purposes
mentioned when you signed your working
contract? If so what was mentioned? Was it in the
contract? Or was it explained orally only?

14. Some answers from the
interviews and surveys
1. Regarding “Portable devices (mobile telephone,
PDA, laptop, pager, etc)
• Some got mobiles from their company, some
get extra $ to use their personal mobile.
• Some got laptop and internet connection
service at home in addition to mobiles
2. Regarding extra hours
• This is a complicated topic, because many
people get “global” salary and it is hard to add
to their payment.

15. Some answers from the
interviews and surveys

16. Questions