Bosses blast the ‘Bare Minimum Monday’ work trend

An Australian boss has slammed a “lazy and entitled” new work trend that is taking over offices around the country.

Love it or hate it, there is no denying that this generation of young people are more liberated than ever before.

The pandemic changed the way many of us work forever, with many companies around the world adopting flexible modes of working.

These may include ‘work from home’ days or the freedom for staff to choose their own hours.

However, there has been a new workplace trend taking over offices around Australia that has incited a heated debate from both sides of the fence.

‘Bare Minimum Mondays’ is a popular movement that aims to promote a “gentle start” to the working week by easing the usual pressures and expectations that can arise after the weekend.

While it can look different for each team and company, it usually entails staff working from home on Mondays, while doing the least amount of work required for their role.

This is also the day where workers can catch up on “life things” that need to be done, such as doing the washing, walking the dog, cooking meals for the week and grocery shopping.

While this arrangement has been welcomed into many businesses by different bosses around Australia, others have questioned the validity of the trend.

Managing Director at u&u Recruitment Partners, Craig Sneesby, stated that implementing Bare Minimum Mondays was creating a dangerous “entitlement culture” in the workplace.

“Personally I am against it. Employees are paid to do a job and work the hours that they have agreed to,” he told news.com.au.

“You are setting a really poor standard if we accept a mediocre start to the week. I would not expect any high achieving worker to want to get involved in this trend.

“It creates a space for workers to be lazy and generates a culture of entitlement.

“There is a reason we have a weekend. That is the time to recharge, and do those things such as your washing and cooking.

“These kind of work perks have really gone too far. It just is not sustainable.”

Craig Sneesby does not believe 'Bare Minimum Mondays' is sustainable. Picture: Supplied

Brisbane based Craig said that while he was not a believer in having a “Bare Minimum Monday”, he did believe that flexible working arrangements are beneficial.

“At our company, we really have strived towards ensuring our employee’s mental health is being cared for,” he said.

“When everyone began coming back into offices, we decided our policy about working from home was simply not to have one.

“A blanketed approach is usually not very useful. So we sat down with workers on individual basis and talked through what would work best for them.

“Some employees, such as single parents or those looking after family members, need more flexibility. And I totally believe that the right employees can be just as productive working from home.”

He added that he does not believe a company who adapts this type of trend will see major success in the future.

“Any business implementing Bare Minimum Mondays is not going to be a future growth company,” Craig added.

“They will be a lovely lifestyle business, for sure. But will they be the next big company in Australia? Probably not.

“Aspiring to drop our standards is pretty demotivating as a workforce.

“Good employees need to get on with their job, and will show that they are working hard and pushing forward.”

He believes the concept would have negative consequences in the long run. Picture: Supplied

HR Specialist and owner at Fit Fantastic Ali Cavill has had many years of experience managing different teams.

She explained that she strongly disagrees with the idea of having “Bare Minimum Mondays” and believes that employees should not be “slacking off” at the start of the week.

“I think having a good Monday really sets you up for the week ahead,” Sydney HR Specialist Ali told news.com.au.

“There is often so much work that comes in over the weekend, and we really need to hit the ground running on Monday morning.

“If you do the bare minimum, I feel like you really drop the ball and get behind the competition.

“It would make a team lazier and less productive overall. Just the name itself is off-putting.

“I would never hire a bare minimum person, I want a high achiever.”

HR Specialist Ali Cavill does not believe 'Bare Minimum Mondays' would work in the long run. Picture: Supplied

The business owner says teams should not be striving to do the 'Bare Minimum'. Picture: Supplied

Ali believes that starting your week out this way would likely only induce more stress, due to the workload building up over the rest of the days.

“It is essentially trying to fit five days worth of work into four,” she said.

“I suspect lots of people who work bare minimum Mondays are working until 6pm or 7pm the rest of the week to get everything done.

“I just can’t see how you could achieve what you want to achieve. It’s not exactly striving towards greatness.”

She also joked that doing to “bare minimum” is not usually what employees should be advertising.

“I am sure lots of people do the bare minimum on Mondays,” Ali laughed.

“But I never thought it would be something that would be advertised as an actual workplace option.

“People generally want to hide the fact that they’re not doing much work. So this trend is quite surprising.”

Adelaide marketing manager Caitlin Winter recently made waves after speaking about her experience incorporating this new practise into her team.

The 31-year-old told news.com.au that for her, it was a way for staff to take their day at their own pace and to treat themselves with “space and kindness” to set up for a productive week.

She says it has helped boost staff productivity, while also easing the stress and anxiety that can arise on a Sunday night – also known as the “Sunday Scaries”.

She says it has boosted productivity and helped her mental health. Picture: Instagram / Caitlin Winter

“A lot of people think it means I sit in my PJs all day in front of the TV and do no work,” she laughed.

“But in reality, it is simply a day where we work from home, don’t schedule in any meetings and generally just treat ourselves with a little more space and kindness to set up for a productive week ahead.

“For us, it means not putting pressure on ourselves to get those big projects done.

“Other things that we might get to do on these days are loads of washing we didn’t get to on the weekend, grocery shopping, planning dinners for the week or walking your dog.”

Caitlin’s inspiration for the concept was sparked by self-employed digital creator, Marisa Jo Mayers, who created and popularised the idea of ‘Bare Minimum Mondays’.

She stated that allowing herself to do the “bare minimum” on Mondays has changed her life for the better.

Marisa said that not only has it improved her mental health, but it has actually boosted her productivity.

Caitlin Winter has implemented the concept successfully. Picture: Instagram / Caitlin Winter

“One day last March, I gave myself permission to do the absolute bare minimum for work, and it was like some magic spell came over me.” the American told Business Insider.

“I felt better. I wasn’t overwhelmed, and I actually got more done than I expected. I’ve done Bare Minimum Monday every week since.

“On a Bare Minimum Monday, I don’t take meetings and take it slow for the first two hours. I’ll do some reading, some journaling, maybe some stuff around the house.

“It’s two hours of no technology – no checking email – just doing whatever I need to do to feel good starting my day.

“Around 10 or so, I let myself do whatever I want creatively. It could be shooting content or making visuals for my brand; it’s work-related but I make sure it’s creative work that I enjoy.

“I’ll do an hour of that before breaking for lunch or a walk. Then I do my main work tasks for two hours.

“I’m not multi-tasking, I’m not distracted, I’m not on my phone. If I’m not done after that, I’ll do another hour, but it’s usually no more than that.

“My Monday workday is shorter but because it’s really focused work, I get the same amount done as my old eight-hour workdays.”