Hybrid work is rapidly reshaping modern employment across the world, with an estimated 44 million workers across Europe now dividing their work time between home and traditional workplaces. In Australia in 2025 more than 36% of workers worked from home most of the time. For many employees, hybrid work offers clear benefits: greater flexibility, reduced commuting and more control over daily schedules. Yet alongside these advantages, research highlights a growing OHS challenge — the difficulty of switching off from work.
In a recent study focused on hybrid workers, researchers at the University of Würzburg in Germany examined how employees manage the separation between work and home life.
One of the biggest risks associated with working from home is the blurring of boundaries between work and personal life. When the kitchen table, spare room or living room becomes an office, employees can find it difficult to mentally “leave work” at the end of the day. Emails, messages and unfinished tasks can continue to intrude into personal time, reducing opportunities for rest and recovery.
These blurred boundaries represent an emerging psychosocial hazard. Without adequate recovery time, workers are more vulnerable to fatigue, chronic stress, poor sleep, reduced concentration and burnout. Recovery from work-related stress is not simply about relaxation — it is essential for maintaining long-term psychological health, wellbeing and sustainable productivity.
The German study identified four distinct “boundary management” profiles based on the strategies workers used to create separation between their professional and personal roles. These boundary setting strategies generally fell into four key categories:
- Temporal boundaries — setting clear start and finish times and limiting overtime.
- Physical boundaries — using a dedicated workspace rather than working from the couch or bed.
- Communicative boundaries — clearly discussing availability with colleagues and supervisors.
- Technological boundaries — reducing after-hours emails, notifications and digital interruptions.
Some employees consistently used strong boundaries across all areas, while others applied more moderate or selective approaches. The research found that workers who used the strongest and most consistent combination of boundary setting strategies experienced the best recovery outcomes.
The employees who consistently applied all four tactics reported greater psychological detachment from work, stronger relaxation, better control over their leisure time and improved ability to engage in meaningful non-work activities such as exercise, hobbies and family life. Researchers also found that these workers experienced greater “mastery” outside work — the sense of achievement and renewal gained from activities unrelated to their jobs.
The findings of the study suggest that no single strategy is enough on its own, with recovery appearing to depend on a combination of reinforcing behaviours that help employees create both physical and psychological separation from work.
This research confirms the growing importance of training leadership in psychosocial hazard management. Managers who unintentionally promote constant availability or excessive digital connectivity may contribute to psychosocial harm, even in flexible work arrangements designed to improve wellbeing.
The research also highlights the critical role workplace culture plays in shaping employee behaviour. Workers were significantly more likely to adopt strong boundaries when managers and colleagues modelled healthy behaviours themselves. Supervisors who avoid sending late-night emails, respect non-work hours and communicate realistic expectations around availability help establish healthier workplace norms.
As hybrid work becomes normalised in workplaces it is becoming increasingly clear that flexibility works best when workers are also able to properly switch off. Effective boundary management is no longer simply a personal preference — it is a critical part of protecting the psychological health of workers and making hybrid work sustainable over the long term.
In recognition of the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance, Australian right-to-disconnect laws were enacted in August 2024. The laws empower workers to refuse unreasonable out-of-hours work contact, and include the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) from an employer (or third parties) outside of working hours, unless that refusal is unreasonable.
To assist in maintaining psychologically safe workplaces organisations should provide training to hybrid workers on boundary management skills, establishing clear expectations around after-hours communication and encouraging regular discussions about workload and availability within teams. Flexible policies are also important, as workers differ in how strongly they prefer to separate work and home life.
For employees working from home, even small changes can improve the value of recovery time. Maintaining a consistent routine, setting firm finishing times, taking regular breaks and limiting evening screen time can all help strengthen boundaries and reduce stress.
Read more: Profiles of boundary tactics when working from home and their relationship with recovery