Everyone who carries a cell phone can hypothetically be reached, and, in one of the more intrusive uses of modern technology, employers might either contact workers outside of the scheduled working hours or expect them to reply promptly to all communication attempts even on days off, whether in the form of conventional texts, Teams messages, emails, or phone calls/voicemails. For some employees, this might come with some sort of addition or increase to their compensation. For others, they might be penalized if they do not engage clients or company staff outside of official/core working hours even if they have no inherent need for doing otherwise. There are cases where workers might even penalize someone for utilizing personal or company devices to communicate within an expected timeframe!
For instance, if a company mandates a 48 hour reply window to all communication from clients or office personnel, sending one minimal but sufficiently thorough and relevant response 47 hours later would still be within these parameters. Doing this repeatedly and purposefully, even enjoying this approach to company policy, would neither conflict with the organization's actual rule nor, far more importantly, conflict with honoring any verifiable philosophical truth. None of this means that employers or managers do not want people to treat such a thing like it has a much more significant status. Indeed, they might complain or go as far as to threaten the docking of pay or termination, depending on the employer, manager, and company.
In truth, company policy is a meaningless social construct in itself that can be trampled on at whom or for personal gain in many cases [1] (as long as one is not doing anything irrational or immoral in the process), and having a job does not entitle one's supervisors, short of the job being something of genuine moral significance like that of a first responder, to be able to micromanage or constantly communicate with a worker against their wishes outside of usual shifts or workdays. If one leverages one's power in the workplace correctly, although factors beyond one's control can prevent ever getting of this point, one can be so helpful or so vital that one can flagrantly mock or disobey certain company policies/expectations without any adverse outcome [2], but not everyone is fortunate enough to be in this position.
To intentionally disregard communication or to not respond immediately even when one has the freedom to is not some inherently irrational behavior or some Biblical sin. Ultimately, not even more virtual-oriented careers need to have this kind of looming, persistent expectation to be checking for work-related messages on a practically endless basis--not that every job or employer would be this way. The commonality of smartphone and computer technology has just blurred what would otherwise be more set boundaries between professional work and the more fundamental aspects of life outside of it. Constant professional accessibility is facilitated by such technology but provides supervisors, whose lives could be purposefully are thrown into what is often the trivialities of professional labor, avenues to invade the personal time of their subordinates.
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