Band 9 model answer
Across much of the world, the line separating professional duty from private life has grown alarmingly blurred, leaving employees stretched thin. This essay will investigate why this imbalance has arisen and consider where the responsibility for redressing it should lie.
The causes are rooted in both economic structures and modern technology. Fierce competition has driven companies to demand ever-greater output, and many workers, fearing redundancy in insecure markets, feel compelled to accept punishing hours. Technology aggravates the situation by tethering people to their jobs around the clock, since a single email can shatter an evening of rest. Cultural attitudes that glorify constant busyness as a badge of virtue only deepen the problem.
Addressing this issue demands shared responsibility rather than blame directed at any single party. Governments bear a clear duty to legislate, capping excessive working hours and guaranteeing rights such as paid leave and a genuine 'right to disconnect'. Employers, in turn, must cultivate humane workplace cultures, recognising that rested staff are more productive and loyal than exhausted ones. Offering flexible schedules and discouraging out-of-hours contact would cost little yet yield considerable benefit.
Individuals, nonetheless, cannot abdicate their own role in the solution. By setting boundaries, resisting the urge to overwork and valuing their personal time, employees can protect the balance that no policy can fully secure for them. In conclusion, longer hours stem from economic pressure, intrusive technology and harmful cultural norms, and the remedy requires governments, employers and workers alike to act in concert.
Examiner’s notes
- Task Response: both questions are answered fully, with causes (competition, technology, culture) explained and responsibility distributed explicitly among governments, employers and individuals.
- Cohesion: the essay coheres through clear topic sentences and connectives such as 'Technology aggravates', 'in turn' and 'nonetheless', so each agent's role follows logically from the last.
- Grammatical Range: ambitious structures abound, including the metaphorical 'a single email can shatter an evening of rest' and the reduced clause 'fearing redundancy in insecure markets', signalling Band 9 control.