HR Weighs In on "Quiet Vacationing"

If it seems like everyone you know is hitting the slopes and "out of office," then 'tis the season. But what if they're not actually, officially out of office? That's quite possible because a controversial travel term is gaining traction to describe remote workers (mainly millennials) who are secretly traveling without telling their bosses, and still working on vacation, albeit oceanside with an Aperol spritz in hand. Enter: quiet vacationing.

"Quiet vacationing is when someone is working remotely but they're not working with their butts in seats at home," says career expert Chris Lovell, PHR. This can take a variety of forms, but these getaways are typically when workers are in another state or country while giving the impression they're working remotely. In practice, this may be toggling their mouse, keeping their Microsoft Teams light green, or maintaining an "online" status, all while doing little to no actual work, she says.

Jacqueline* quiet vacations at least once a month, usually on Fridays. "I figure as long as I get the work done, who cares whether I am actively working during business hours, and I always have my phone so I can be responsive if anyone messages me," she says. "Then the days I actually take paid time off, which is extremely limited, I can 100 percent log off."

Experts Featured in This Article

Chris Lovell, PHR, is a career expert at SoFi Technologies and founder of Careers by Chris.

Lauren Winans is the chief executive officer and principal HR consultant for Next Level Benefits.

Nadia Alaee is a senior director of human resource business partners at Deel.

You can make the argument that quiet vacationing has always been happening on the down-low, but the trend has skyrocketed in practice since the start of the pandemic. With the acceleration of remote work, of course, more people find a way to beat the system, but quiet vacationing is also inextricably linked to toxic work culture.

"This trend is stemming from a cultural issue and toxic workplace environment more than anything else," says HR consultant Lauren Winans. "It's a continuation of the fear of not being connected, being away from the office and missing something, and the stigma that comes around taking an extended vacation."

So, rather than formally taking time off from work and completely disconnecting, the urge to quiet vacation feeds into workplace hustle culture and the lack of respect for work-life balance. "People either don't have time off, can't take time off, or are made to feel bad for taking time off, so they try to find workarounds where they can still build that work-life balance and do the things they enjoy," Lovell says. "It's the need to be present and 'on' all the time, otherwise people worry their workplace, colleagues, or boss might view them as less productive or less of a team member."

Lovell also speculates that quiet vacationing is on the rise due to overall poor and inadequate paid time off (PTO) policies in the United States. The average American gets 11 days of paid vacation per year, according to Forbes, but there are no federal regulations or laws on how much PTO companies must provide to employees, Lovell says. (It's completely up to the employer.) In fact, 28 million Americans don't get any paid vacation or paid holidays, and nearly a third of employees in the US don't have access to any PTO.

Even if workers do get and/or take time off, over half (52 percent) of employees report working while on PTO, whether they're checking emails, hopping on a conference call, or replying to a Slack notification, per the same Forbes survey. As a result, this can lead to burnout and resentment, and employees may feel like quiet vacationing is their only option, Lovell says. In a way, they're just doing the best they can.

On the other hand, however, the quiet vacation trend may be another manifestation of the way remote work is taken advantage of. "It's usually when organizations are not flexible with working arrangements, don't have trust [in their employees], or don't have flexible policies that people will start taking advantage," says HR professional Nadia Alaee.

Of course, there is a group of people who love and respect remote work, so they don't abuse it, but there's another camp of employees who may say they're working remotely, yet their productivity drops, or is completely non-existent, Alaee says. That's when quiet vacationing starts to become a non-compliant issue and runs the risk of spoiling remote work for an entire company.

Another HR nightmare: working from an undisclosed location ups the chances of inadequate data safety or a security breach, Lovell says. Public WiFi is never the safest option if you work with sensitive or confidential information, and choosing to work in a new or unknown location without prior approval can put you, the company, and your work in jeopardy, she adds. There are also tax implications that come into play, for both the employer and employee, if you work in a different location than you are contracted to work in, so you want to be extra thoughtful about company policies and legalities before jetting off, Alaee adds.

Now, because the concept of quiet vacationing is inherently sneaky and deceptive — and likely not OK with your employer's policy — it also doesn't come without personal risk, Lovell says. "We all have our own decision-making abilities and it's all about choice, but be prepared to deal with the consequences and ramifications of quiet vacationing," she says. Know your company's policies and be prepared to deal with the backlash if you're caught.

So what's a better way to go about taking time off, you ask? Transparency and communication. If there are no clear policies against or for working remotely in different locations, Winans says it's best to talk with your employer to let them know you want to take a trip, noting the days you are and are not available to work (if you feel comfortable with a hybrid work/vacation schedule while you travel). "It can't hurt to tell your boss where you're at, and if it feels like it's going to hurt, you may want to think twice about that employer and the environment," she says. If you're ever shamed or made to feel bad about taking time off, it may be time to look for a new job.

And if you have PTO, actually utilize it so you can rest and recharge. "From what I've seen, when you're on a quiet vacation, you're not really disconnected, and one of the best ways to prevent burnout is to fully disconnect from work," Lovell says. "Create boundaries as much as possible."

Finally, like most workplace issues, Alaee says that flexibility and honesty are key from the employer and company culture perspective. "Be really open and transparent with your workforce, and if you need to iterate on a policy, tweak it, or make it a little bit different, explain why," she says. "Leaning into workplace flexibility is just going to improve employee health, well-being, productivity, and morale."

*Names have been changed.

Andi Breitowich is a Chicago-based freelance writer and graduate from Emory University and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her work has appeared in PS, Women's Health, Cosmopolitan, and elsewhere.