Workers on iPads in bed, church, holidays

IT bosses are invading their workers' bedrooms, holidays and even their prayers, aided and abetted by smartphones and tablets.

A survey of 300 Australian IT workers and their bosses has found employees were frequently using their own smartphones and tablets to send work emails.

34 per cent had sent work emails while on holidays, surprisingly, the same amount that had sent a work email from public transport.

Other private places where work emails were being sent were the bed, for 23 per cent surveyed, and restaurants, for 21 per cent.

iPad users were far more likely to use their devices for work, with 42 per cent confessing to emailing from an entertainment event and 49 per cent while on holiday.

19 per cent had worked from a place of worship.

The second annual survey was commissioned by information service provider, Unisys.

General manager for IT outsourcing, Lee Ward, said employers were yet to figure out how to capitalise on the popularity of mobile technology.

While 75 per cent of those surveyed believed it made their employees more productive, employers were still grappling with their "bring your own technology" policies.

Most worried about the potential security and virus risks, and the workload it would place on their IT support workers.

Ward urged companies to ask their staff how they would like to see smart phones and tablets used in the workplace.

And with so many people available on their smart phones 24-7, policies should also protect their employees from burning out, she said.

"People see their day as 24-hour and want to use the time in that day in different ways to suit their lifestyle," Ward said.

"The flip side of that is people may become so consumed by their work that they don't have the right work-life balance."

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