Here’s some good news for anyone looking for a reason not to pull an “all-nighter” in your office this evening: today, September 24, is Go Home on Time Day.
That’s according to the U.K. charity group Working Families, which provides support to working parents and caregivers and which has been promoting this holiday celebrating work-life balance since 2000. The British group says that only about 17% of parents and caregivers in the U.K. leave work on time every day and 35% feel that their work schedule has a negative effect on their home life.
Working Families started promoting Go Home on Time Day as a way of combating a growing work-life imbalance that causes stress, which the group says can actually lead to less productivity. “Going home on time should be the norm, not a novelty, but for many families that’s just not happening,” Working Families CEO Sarah Jackson said in a statement. “We’re inviting people everywhere to ‘Go Home on Time’ this Wednesday for a mid-week breather, see how good it feels and start making it a year-round habit.”
Having a day dedicated specifically to prompt departure is part of Working Families’ annual National Work-Life Week, which includes various events throughout this week as well as a series of webcasts aimed at helping working parents and caregivers improve their work-life balance.
Working Families is promoting the holiday through social media with the #GoHomeonTimeDay and #GHOTD hashtags encouraging people to share their post-work plans:
https://twitter.com/GHOTDUK1/status/514801438476615680
Today is OFFICIALLY go home on time day. Only 17pc of parents leave work on time each day. But today it's practically the law. #GHOTD
— Louise Benson (@lulubenson) September 24, 2014
National Go Home on Time day! Bath, wine and the Great British Bake off! http://t.co/QfufvnB0F0 #GHOTD #whatwillyoubedoing
— Emily Hoffschmidt-McDonnell (@emilylou_mcd) September 24, 2014
Apparently it's "Go Home on Time Day" @GHOTDUK1 so I'm off to get a train – seeing Jeeves & Wooster: Perfect Nonsense @YvonneArnaud
— Gerry Boyle (@GerryBoyle10) September 24, 2014
Of course, Wednesday is also the beginning of the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah, so there is a good chance that a lot of people were already going to leave work either on time or early today, though a Working Families spokeswoman said the overlap is just a coincidence. Either way, let’s hope that Go Home on Time Day is a holiday that gains a larger following, both in the U.K. and here in the U.S.