For a lot of individuals, work doesn't stop the minute you leave the office at 5 p.m. Many a long night has been spent hammering out emails into the early hours, ready for colleagues to pick up first thing in the morning. Or, perhaps you have an idea that pops into your head and you want to shoot it across before it escapes you. Whatever the reason, most of us have been on either the sending or receiving end at least once. Sadly for Sharon Au, she found out the hard way that not everyone has the same work culture that she does. According to Working Mother, the former actress moved from Singapore to Paris a year ago but has found it difficult to adjust to the Parisian work-life balance.

During the first week in her new job in the French capital, Sharon sent an email to a coworker at 8 p.m. To her surprise, her coworker took a screenshot of the message and forwarded to the HR department who politely reminded Au to stick to her work hours. Any communications outside of the designated timeframe weren't tolerated. Although it was somewhat of a rude awakening, Sharon stuck to the rules...for the most part. Three months later, she found herself in hot water again when she sent a text to her colleagues at 11 p.m, asking them all to make sure they were prepared for their morning meeting. Once more, her message was forwarded to HR, who pulled her up on it.

However, Sharon was quick to point out that HR wasn't being derogatory or mean but instead encouraged her to take up yoga, or find other activities to do to keep herself occupied outside of work. They even gifted her movie tickets to have a night out. Although the native Singaporean was initially taken aback by being reported, she now sees it as a positive thing. Not every country is as focused on work as some are. In fact, France has strict labor laws in place to ensure that 35-hour working weeks are adhered to.

We know a few people that could take note!

Related: The Average Full-Time Working Mom Spends 21 Hours A Week On Housework