Something big has been happening in many working individuals’ lives over the last decade, a phenomenon termed the ‘working vacation’.
The ‘working vacation’ is a syndrome wherein you are seemingly on a holiday but find yourself regularly checking on work emails, attending to office tasks and generally blurring the lines between work and vacation. There is also another term for this: ‘Leaveism’.
Leaveism is essentially about employees utilising their personal time to do office work. What’s more, it’s prevalent in the UAE.
A UAE study conducted by Lakshmi Nair, a Middlesex University Dubai MBA student, revealed that more than half the respondents said they have worked during their vacations either several times a day or between one and three times a week.
Titled 'Work Life Integration and Leaveism: A Study of Workplace Practices in Business Excellence Award-Winning Organisations in the UAE,' Nair’s study surveyed 506 participants, and showed that more than 20 per cent of employees admitted to taking their work home.
“This can vary from working at home after office hours on weekdays or weekends, to working during annual leave or vacation,” said Nair.
She explained that while the concepts of ‘presenteeism’ (when employees come to work despite being unwell and so perform underpar) and ‘absenteeism’ (employee’s intentional or habitual absence from work) have previously been studied by researchers and HR professionals, the term ‘Leaveism’ provides the missing link in the studies.
“Leaveism is an under-researched phenomenon as the term was coined by Dr. Ian Hesketh during his research on well-being in the UK police service in 2013 at the Lancaster University Management School,” said Nair.
The UK study, which showed that most employees admitted to working after office hours and during weekends, also highlighted that only 13 per cent conformed to never having responded to an office mail or call over the weekend.
However, the majority of employees (93 per cent) said they had responded to emails or phone calls after office hours during weekdays.
With technology keeping people tied to their devices and making them be 'forever online,' Nair believes the proximity between employers and employees at all times - even outside business hours - has made urgent emails and last-minute work requests very common.
An interesting aspect, however, that emerged from the study was that while over half of respondents were reported to take work home mainly due to pressures, 'compensation for personal life' was also listed as another reason for Leaveism.
Close to one-fourth of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they indulged in work to make up for not having much to do in their personal lives.
Many employees who worked during their holidays or took work home may not have personal hobbies or do not have their families with them in the UAE, the study revealed.
Employees, the study suggested, seemed to be indulging almost voluntarily in Leaveism behaviours.
The study also indicated that a majority of employees consider their work as an integral part of their lives and give it high priority.
Cost of Leaveism
The Leaveism studies point out that organisations seldom notice the costs associated with Leaveism behaviors, which not only impact employee productivity in the long run, but also organizational performance.
“It can impact employee’s personal life and their resilience. The other disadvantages include a decrease in organisation’s bottom-line and operational effectiveness and increase in employee’s stress and anxiety,” said Nair.
Organisations need to realise that the current definition of an ideal worker - one who is connected 24/7 to work - comes at a significant cost to both employees and their firms, said Nair.
“By considering work output and not time clocked as a relevant measure of employee productivity and commitment, and by recognising the importance of employees’ lives outside the office, employers will be able to create a workplace culture that fosters creativity, well-being and above all, an engaged workforce,” explained Nair.
Other studies
Findings of many studies have shown that for people to be seen as ideal workers committed to their jobs, they seem to be choosing to prioritise their work ahead of other aspects of their lives, including their mental and physical health, family needs, personal hobbies and social relationships.
The UK
A study of 1,000 working parents in UK published in the Modern Families Index last year found that employees often put in an additional 10 hours a week.
This reportedly led to nearly a third of them (29 per cent) feeling burned out, and close to half the participants (40 per cent) being unable to cope with familial obligations.
“Working non-stop while on leave or during one’s personal time on regular days/weekends leads to burnout,” stressed Nair.
The US
Even though US workers are reportedly using lesser vacation days (fallen from 20.3 in 2000 to 16 days a year in 2015), many continued to work via phones and laptops when they do go on leave, as reported by the Society of HR Management (SHRM).
The Middle East
A 2014 Bayt.com survey (2,773 respondents) found that 86.5 per cent of employees in the MENA region continued to work even during holidays, with tasks ranging from checking and responding to mails, to staying contactable at all times.
Corporate Wellness Programmes
While the concept of ‘Leaveism’ seems to be a common practice among employees, more companies in the UAE are implementing wellness programmes in the office.
A recent MEED survey of 136 companies showed 66 per cent of respondents are now implementing wellness programmes in the office, with the aim of giving their staff a wellness boost to promote health and wellbeing as well as encourage better employee engagement. This showed an increase from 45 per cent of companies in the previous year.
“This is a great improvement from just a year ago, an encouraging sign that bodes well for not just the individual welfare of employees, but also the overall wellbeing of the company,” says Dr. Michael Bitzer, CEO at National Health Insurance Company – Daman.
The study was conducted ahead of the 2017 launch of the Daman Corporate Health Awards, which has become an important benchmark of corporate health and wellness across businesses in the UAE.
By Jumana Khamis
