There’s an alarming trend that seems to be happening for a long time now. I like to call it “vacation shaming”. Compensation comprises not only salary, but the other benefits paid to employees for their services including access to group insurance, allowances and paid time off. Paid time off is standard nowadays and includes but may not be limited to sick days, casual days and of course vacation days. With many organizations now being forced to allow employees to work remotely when it was not an option before the pandemic, people are struggling to separate work life from home life. As a result, vacation leave is so important to mental health now more than ever. Yet when people take their vacation, they often are still contacted in one way or another. Why is paid vacation a benefit if people’s need to be away from work and disconnect cannot be fully honoured?
We are fortunate to live in a time where there are so many communication channels available to us. This of course allows us to connect with one another so much faster and easier in not only our personal lives but our professional lives. While this is a major benefit, one of the cons is that it feels like we are never truly able to sign out from work. When your vacation leave period is coming up, to ensure that your time is interruption free, try the following tips:
1. Ensure that everything outstanding is settled before you go on leave. As far as possible, try to treat with all your urgent matters before you go on vacation. This is to ensure that you do not leave your team in the lurch while you are out of office. This of course will depend on how long you will be out of office, your role and your organization. If you work in a fast paced company, one week could be a long time to be away. If you are an executive, you may unfortunately not be able to handover that much but can still set boundaries; only intermittent access to emails for example. Plan accordingly.
2. Do not proceed on leave during a busy time. Try to choose a time when work is naturally less busy so that you are not so missed. In addition you may not have to put as much in place to ensure continuity. Even if where you are is regularly busy, there must be a time that you know you can be away without causing too many hiccups.
3. Designate a contact person in your absence. Brief your designate accordingly on any important matters and also on what to do if anything major pops up. Forward them copies of your process maps so that they have references when you are not there. More than likely there won’t be that much and you will choose someone appropriate from your team that can fill in efficiently. Once they are properly briefed, they should not have a reason to contact you.
4. Set your out off office email. This should advise the period you will be on leave, when you will return and your respective designate. It seems so obvious, but sometimes in your excitement to go on your vacation you may forget to set this. Make sure to do it!
5. Brief your colleagues/team in your department of your absence. It is courteous to advise your peers that you will be out of office. It doubles as a means of ensuring that you do not get any unnecessary check-ins. The team can also help your designate along with anything you may have missed in your briefing.
Being contacted about work during your vacation can end up being a source of stress when you should really be focusing on resting and recharging. Hopefully putting the above in place will ensure that you have an enjoyable vacation. Some of us may be part of an organization where the culture is that employees are constantly plugged in and performing. We cannot however ignore the profound effects of poor mental health which manifest as burnout, depression and other serious issues. We need to respect people’s personal lives and private time and allow them to have a proper vacation. It will only make them better employees and benefit the organization in the end.
Take care of yourselves, stay safe and have a productive week ahead!
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