After spending a great week at the beach recently and listening to lots of comments about the amount of time I spent checking and responding to That’s Good HR emails, it occurred to me that the days of vacations where we leave the office AT the office are a thing of the past. Staying in touch with the office is not a requirement of That’s Good HR but is my choice (or addiction) to keep up to date.
Should you be accessible or completely “disconnect”? There are as many opinions on this as there are ways to work remotely and the answer is specific to each person, their job and the company they work for. Those of us who work in the Indianapolis Staffing market know that things happen quickly and we feel a need to be in contact. Executive headhunters and those in management positions in Indianapolis may also have a need to be accesible while others in more operational roles such as administrative jobs or accounting jobs may not feel a need to be as accessible. It is a hiring trend with many Central Indiana jobs to offer reimbursement for cell and smart phones in order for employees to be accessible even while away from the office.
Companies do need to be aware of exempt versus non-exempt employees to monitor hours actually worked by non-exempt employees for overtime.
For me, it is a much more relaxing vacation when I can quickly address questions and handle urgent issues. That way, I don’t fear my first day back in the office and facing hundreds of emails. I personally don’t feel that my vacation is compromised by checking emails once or twice a day while looking out at the ocean!