James Watt was until recently in charge of Brewdog and still retains a seat on the Board. The brewer and pub chain has had persistent issues with employee relations and notably it still does not recognise a trade union.
One thing that the trade union movement fought for as far back as the late nineteenth century was the 8 hour day. That is to say 8 hours work, 8 hours leisure, 8 hours rest. The fight of course continues because long work hours cultures still exist and the battle for the right to disconnect from work remains an important one.
James Watt has a different view. Posting a video on Insta he has noted:
“I think the whole concept of work-life balance was invented by people who hate the work that they do.
Watt believes in work-life integration (he says) which means you are never not working.
Meanwhile people can take pride in their work and do it well without feeling they need to be doing it every waking hour. That will likely result in mistakes and poor work.
In short Watt has revealed one reason why Brewdog had employee relations issues when he was in charge and provided a compelling reason why it really does need to recognise a union.
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