Many people responding to emails, messages, calls from clients or colleagues
People just can’t stop working, even when they should be taking a break, according to a survey by MyPerfectResume.
More than eight in 10 (82 per cent) American workers work while on vacation. How? Ninety per cent check email and messages and 70 per cent answer calls from clients or colleagues.
This is the case even though many workers are suffering from burnout, according to another report.
More than four in 10 (42 per cent) have worked on vacation two to three times and 30 per cent have done it four to five times. And while four per cent have done it just once, two per cent have done it eight to nine times and 12 per cent 10 times or more.
More than four in 10 (42 per cent) take vacation days specifically to do work, and 37 per cent work on vacation because they "just like to be on top of things," according to MyPerfectResume’s survey of 1,012 respondents.
Many employers are not helping with employee burnout issues, according to a separate report.
And the new survey supports this: Two-thirds (66 per cent) of workers report their boss contacted them to work on vacation, and 94 per cent of them did the work.
Negative effects
More than half (51 per cent) of respondents feel working on vacation had a negative impact on their lives. And this is causing people to miss out on time to relax and have fun (39 per cent) and family time (24 per cent).
Working on vacation has also caused added stress (26 per cent) and made some workers resent their job (five per cent).
Another 40 per cent of respondents have worked while on sick leave, and 32 per cent did it because “they just like to be on top of things”. But more than half (56 per cent) say that working on sick leave had a negative impact on their health.
More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of workers say they’d feel guilty if they had to disturb someone’s vacation regarding a work issue.
Many workers pay a “vacation tax,” according to an earlier survey.
Reasons to take a break
There are a number of reasons employees should use their vacation days, according to Rise, a provider of HR, benefits and payroll solutions. These include:
- Employees will be more relaxed, productive and satisfied.
- Teams will become stronger together.
- Vacations are good for your people’s health.
- Not taking vacation days is costly for employees.
- Not taking vacation days is also costly for employers.
- Vacation days stimulate employee innovation.
