To say that Utah-based start-up BambooHR has a work culture that includes consequences for working too many hours might sound peculiar. But while some start-up businesses demand long work hours, BambooHR, maker of online human resources software, has a strict policy against it. As work–life balance remains an issue for many companies and employees, BambooHR has created a unique culture for its 150 workers with definitive work-time policies.

Voted by Utah Business as a “Best Company to Work For,” BambooHR is well known for its workplace culture. Co-founders Ryan Sanders and Ben Peterson have created a unique approach to enforcing a strict policy that work–life balance is not just lip service and reminding employees that a 40-hour workweek does not limit creativity. The company's “anti-workaholics” policy means that all employees must leave the office at 5:00 p.m. Breaks are mandatory, and employees are admonished for not taking them.

Why the fuss? The guidelines, part of the co-founders' core beliefs, have developed from witnessing and hearing firsthand about other business cultures where their friends worked. Sleep deprivation, rewards for working long hours, failed marriages, and stress-related illnesses were just some of the things they observed.

Sanders says working a lot of hours might seem great on the surface, but ultimately it affects the business—in a negative way. One employee, who used to work 70 to 80 hours a week, nearly lost her job because she was sleep deprived, increasingly difficult to work with, and not very productive. Confronted by the company's two owners, she was told she needed to scale back to a 40-hour workweek or risk losing her job.

The company's “no workaholics” strategy has not hurt the bottom line. In its most recent year, the young company posted sales in the millions. BambooHR employees—and their bosses—are united in the belief that one's home life does not need to be sacrificed to build a great company.

Questions for Critical Thinking

1. Discuss the impact on employees of working long hours. What is the impact on productivity? Morale?

2. Discuss how a 40-hour workweek might be difficult to adapt to for someone coming from a work environment where working long hours is part of the culture and the norm.