A whopping 75 percent of employees on vacation actually work while they’re really supposed to be goofing off—even though half of nonessential staff say they don’t believe they’re required to do so.

An HRDive report highlights findings from a survey conducted by the HR Certification Institute, in which respondents indicate how unclear company policies are on the matter.

In fact, just 31 percent of employers, the study finds, actually have policies that discourage working during vacation.

Survey results show, the report says, that with a written policy in place that discourages work while on vacation, only 10 percent of workers say they always or almost always work during their vacation.

Without a policy in place, on the other hand, more than twice as many—21 percent—of workers say they almost always work on vacation.

“Most workers bring their laptops with their flip-flops on vacation,” according to HRCI researcher and spokesperson Barry Lawrence, who says in the report, “Employees are confounded by a mixed bag of written company policies, unspoken expectations, shared beliefs and poor examples set by CEOs and supervisors.”

The report points out that with less than a third of employers encouraging workers to engage in a real vacation, instead of working on vacation, “it’s not surprising that work and vacation have become indistinguishable” But that kind of official policy—or lack thereof—can cost employers in the long run, not to mention what it does to employees.

Says the report, “[B]y not taking time to refresh and regroup, employees can become over-stressed, even burned out. Stress leads to health problems, which, in turn, can increase absenteeism and lower productivity. This also means higher healthcare costs for employers.”

With this latest study confirming the findings of numerous other studies—that employees are working around the clock—the report suggests that HR managers could put mandatory vacation policies in place to discourage such actions.

In addition, leaders should actually lead the way by visibly taking time off, as well as being supportive and encouraging employees to honor their own needs for time away from work.

Instant Insights /

Employees working on vacation: How can you stop them? Should you?

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