Workplace & Labour
You'll Answer Emails on Weekends — It's Expected
A new employee is told that weekend and after-hours work is just 'part of being a team player' — reframing regulated, paid work as an unpaid favour
Premium
intermediate
8 minutes
The Situation
What They Said
“You'll answer emails on weekends here — it's expected. Being a team player means going the extra mile, no need to make it about pay.”
This is said to a new employee during onboarding, framing weekend availability and after-hours work as a character test or a favour rather than what it legally is: regulated working time that generally requires agreement and extra pay. It uses loyalty language ('team player', 'the extra mile') to make asking about pay feel petty.
The Fallacy
Framing an Obligation as a Favour
The argument dresses up a legal question as a question of character. Whether you work extra hours or weekends is not simply about being 'a team player' — it is regulated by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. Overtime may generally only be worked by agreement, and both overtime and Sunday work carry set pay premiums. Reframing paid, regulated work as a voluntary favour is a way to extract unpaid hours while making the worker feel guilty for asking about their rights.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997
Section 10 — Overtime — by Agreement and Paid
“Subject to this Chapter, an employer may not require or permit an employee to work overtime except in accordance with an agreement; or more than ten hours' overtime a week. ... An employer must pay an employee at least one and one-half times the employee's wage for overtime worked.”
You generally cannot be forced to work overtime — it requires an agreement, and it is capped at ten hours a week. If you do work overtime, it must be paid at one and one-half times your normal wage (or, by agreement, taken as paid time off). So weekend email duty is not a 'favour' an employer can simply demand: without agreement it is not compulsory, and if you work it, it must be paid.
Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997
Section 16 — Sunday Work — Double Pay
“An employer must pay an employee who works on a Sunday at double the employee's wage for each hour worked, unless the employee ordinarily works on a Sunday, in which case the employer must pay the employee at one and one-half times the employee's wage for each hour worked.”
'Weekend' work is not all the same. Work done on a Sunday must be paid at double your normal wage for every hour — or one and one-half times if Sunday is part of your ordinary working days. Being told to handle Sunday emails as a 'team player' does not remove that entitlement.
Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997
Section 6(3) — The Earnings Threshold Exclusion
“The Minister may make a determination that excludes the application of this Chapter, or any provision of it, to any category of employees earning in excess of an amount stated in the determination.”
These working-time protections — ordinary hours, overtime and Sunday pay — do not apply to employees who earn above the earnings threshold the Minister sets from time to time. If you earn above that threshold, your hours and extra pay are governed by your contract, not by these sections — so check where your salary sits before relying on them.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
Luke 10:7 (NET)
“Stay in that same house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the worker deserves his pay.”
Jesus states plainly that a worker's labour has worth and deserves to be paid for. Time and effort given to an employer are not a gift the worker owes; they are work — and work is worthy of its wage. Asking to be paid for extra hours is not greed; it is simply naming what Scripture already affirms.
Leviticus 19:13 (NET)
“You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. You must not withhold the wages of a hired worker overnight until morning.”
Withholding a worker's due — including the extra pay their weekend or overtime hours have earned — is placed alongside oppression and robbery. Dressing it up as loyalty does not change what it is. The employee who insists on fair pay for extra work is standing exactly where this command stands.
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What They'll Say Next
Common Counter-Arguments
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They might say: “You are salaried, so your salary already covers any weekend or extra hours.”
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They might say: “It is only a few emails, not real work, so it does not count as overtime.”
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