CV.ee job portal conducted a survey (link in Estonian) about how people use their working time. A little over a 1,000 people responded to the questionnaire.

The results showed that 76 percent of respondents deal with personal matters during working hours, said CV.ee's marketing and communications specialist Gertu Matikainen.

"For example, going to the doctor, taking a child to kindergarten, or handling some other unavoidable matter is not always possible to push outside working hours," Matikainen said. "And if an employee can arrange such obligations flexibly and work tasks are always completed, it may be a reasonable solution compared with strictly separating nine‑to‑five working time and the rest of life."

Company culture matters

Nearly three‑quarters of respondents use working time to visit a doctor or handle other health‑related errands. In addition, personal emails are sent and time is spent on social media, Matikainen noted.

The study shows that people themselves see this rather as situation‑based. 51 percent of respondents believe that handling personal matters during the workday should be approached according to the situation and also the company's culture.

Matikainen said that flexible work arrangements must have clear boundaries so that personal errands do not hinder the completion of work tasks. Such flexibility may in turn mean that people are willing to deal with work also in their free time. For example, slightly under half of respondents read work emails every day while on vacation.

For the employer, flexible work arrangements can be positive, because they give the employee the opportunity to organize their life better and may reduce daily stress. For example, an employee can go to the doctor or handle child‑related obligations without having to take a separate vacation day for each such matter.

What people are thinking

How much do you deal with personal matters during working hours at your job? Some answers by people on the streets of Tartu:

"Very minimally, working time is working time, in that sense I respect working time and I respect my company."

"For me there isn't really much difference between work and personal matters. My work is different, I don't go to work in the usual way."

"Sometimes there is time during work to handle some personal matters, for example to write an email or pay a bill."

Most common personal tasks done during working hours:

• Going to the doctor or handling health‑related errands (74%)
• Sending and/or reading personal emails (66%)
• Spending time on social media (41%)
• Planning trips or making bookings (28%)
• Child‑related errands (e.g., taking to kindergarten/school etc.) (24%)
• Going to the store (24%)
• Household chores, such as cleaning or repairs (22%)
• Shopping in online stores (22%)

Source: CV.ee survey

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