‘Don’t try to mix the two’: Why workplace vacations can hurt your work-life balance

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When Alice Wu’s partner had to go to Las Vegas for a five-day business trip, the St. Catharines, Ont.-based public relations associate, who usually works from home, jumped at the chance to join her partner and work from their hotel room.

Ms. Wu started her shift at 6 a.m. and ended at 2 p.m., the time difference giving her three extra hours in the afternoon, which she spent walking the Las Vegas Strip, going swimming and seeing Cirque du Soleil.

“It was all about taking time for myself,” she says. “We have two kids at home, and for the last nine years, I’ve had maybe eight or 10 days off. And since my partner was working anyway, I didn’t feel like making plans with him. It was literally, ‘Sure, I have to work, but after my shift, I’m only going to be responsible for myself.’”

This type of approach to work, which involves working while enjoying some free time, is often called a “workcation” and becomes a priority when choosing a job.

A 2023 study by Montreal-based travel agency FlightHub found that 47% of Canadians cite a company’s working vacation policy as a key influence in their choice of employer. That number jumps to 63% among millennials. Nearly half of this cohort has seriously considered combining work and international travel.

“This has clearly been exacerbated by the trend toward remote work during the pandemic,” says Jim Stanford, an economist and director of the Center for Future Work. “There are new opportunities to work remotely, and this idea of ​​the ‘workcation’ is one of them.”

But while the ability to work from anywhere — including during vacations — is associated with higher employee morale and provides an often-needed change of scenery for remote workers like Ms. Wu, experts warn that working vacations can also be detrimental to employees’ work-life balance, productivity and well-being.

“An increasingly blurred border”

Stanford sees work holidays as problematic because they constitute “a further blurring of the line between work and the rest of your life.”

“One of the main drawbacks of the working holiday phenomenon is that it fosters the expectation that employers can tap you on the shoulder during your time off,” he says.

While Wu sees the flexibility of being able to work from anywhere as a benefit, as the change of scenery makes her more productive, she acknowledges the risk that workcations pose to work-life balance.

“I think workcations can definitely complicate employers’ expectations,” she says, noting specifically that employers can “start asking their teams for little extras tied to the perk of a workcation — like staying later or checking Slack while away.”

Stanford says: “If you work in a place where work holidays are popular, your employer might not be surprised to say, ‘I’m letting you go sightseeing while you work, so now that you’re actually on holiday, you should be able to get some work done.'”

Due to the risks of burnout and decreased productivity, Ottawa-based digital marketing agency seoplus+ is advising its employees, many of whom work remotely, not to take work vacations.

“Our logic is that when you work during the holidays, you get the worst of both worlds instead of the best,” he explains. Amanda Stephens, VP of Operations at seoplus+.

Stephens cites the example of a family trip with friends. “You’re chained to a desk with bad hotel Wi-Fi while they go exploring the city,” she says. “Sure, you can join them after hours, but you’ll have some serious FOMO in the meantime.”

She also points out that, just as workcations have allowed employees to work while on vacation, this sets a precedent: you should do it. “Imagine seeing your colleague sitting at the beach in a virtual meeting with a client,” she says. “The next time you’re at the beach, are you going to feel guilty about not working?”

Practical implications of the work

Work holidays also have practical consequences in the workplace. In Ms. Wu’s case, she experienced a setback at work while she was traveling to answer a client call.

“Luckily, the client is easy to contact and had no problem when I asked to move the call up a day,” she says. “I explained that I wasn’t sure if the Wi-Fi on a bus was strong enough to handle a Zoom call.”

Stephens acknowledges that employees working while on vacation often find themselves at the mercy of unstable Wi-Fi networks. Hotel Wi-Fi is often unstable, which can hamper productivity, or unsecured, which can be an even bigger threat to privacy.

This implication was recently highlighted when a recent survey of 2,000 American workers by communications agency Movchan Agency found that 17% of workers said they had accidentally leaked classified documents after working on hotel Wi-Fi while on vacation.

“Don’t try to mix the two”

While Wu has never had a problem with this blurring during her business travel, she says she is not opposed to having a conversation with her employer to clarify their expectations of her.

Otherwise, there could be serious productivity issues and a cause for burnout. “People often overlook this,” says Stephens. “You won’t feel recharged and restored. You’ll feel like you didn’t get a break—because you didn’t—which can lead to burnout and frustration.”

This risk of burnout, Stephens adds, is why seoplus+ advises employees to “make the most of their work time and make the most of their personal time. Don’t try to mix the two.”