12 Aug Most Americans Work on Vacation

In the typical workplace, summer is often associated with lighter workloads and vacation time. But vacations don’t necessarily mean R&R like they used to!

According to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive and released by Harris Interactive and released by Ricoh Americas Corporation, 54% of U.S. workers say their boss expects them to work during their vacation.

So what’s changed?

We’re always plugged in. Changing your habits is extremely hard to do if you bring a laptop or tablet with you on vacation. Even your smartphone can suck you back into the workplace and throw you back into your daily responsibilities.

Based on findings from a survey released by Neverfail, 79% of people said they take their work-related device with them on vacations.  In fact, about one-third of them hide from their family or friends when they’re on vacation to check their work email, even if it means driving up to 10 miles out of their way to find a place to check them.

Being constantly connected has become crucial to businesses and employees, but it makes it difficult to unplug and unwind when it’s most needed.

Whether it’s being unable to let go of responsibilities or expected by your boss, research shows that 30% of folks read their work email while on vacation, 23% take work-related phone calls, 19% pull work-related things off their home computer and 18% of people get text messages that have to do with work.

Surely it’s not that bad, as many people feel checking their work email on vacation makes returning to work a little easier, because they seem to be less behind.

Alternatively, it seems some employees are actually working harder when they’re on vacation than when they’re in the office.

Overall, it’s vital for employees to recharge for themselves, their families and their career or they may end up choosing an employer that encourages them to disconnect on vacation.

What about you? Do you work on vacation? Does it make your re-entry easier or keep you from fully recharging?