Vacation Culture: When Rest Becomes Work, and Work Becomes Rest

Vacations should be a time for rest, but more and more people aren’t using them as they should. Some quietly rest during working hours while pretending to work; others, even when officially on vacation, remain engaged in their job. According to Evelina Latyšovič, Head of Business Operations at the global HR solutions company Manpower, these two opposite practices stem from the same issue – a work culture in which submitting a vacation request is seen as a sign of insufficient commitment. How does such an environment affect employees, and what can organizations do to ensure that vacations don’t exhaust staff or harm company operations?

Globally, 46% of employees say their workload interferes with work-life balance, and as many as 56% of Gen Z report experiencing daily work stress, according to the latest ManpowerGroup survey.

These results indicate that many workers struggle to manage their time and energy between work and personal life. One consequence is a complicated relationship with rest: even when they have the opportunity to take time off, people often don’t make full use of it.

“The consequences of a complicated relationship with rest – rest is still sometimes viewed negatively – are that people either hide the fact they are resting or cannot disconnect even during vacation. Such extremes indicate a lack of mutual trust and cultural maturity within the organization, preventing a healthy work-rest balance. This environment encourages both secret withdrawal from work and secret engagement with it – two opposite reactions to the same systemic problem,” comments Latyšovič.

Quiet Vacationing – When Rest Becomes a Secret

Quiet vacationing refers to employees who don’t officially take vacation days but stop working and pretend otherwise – creating the impression they are fulfilling tasks. This often happens in remote work settings.

Recent global research shows that 1 in 4 employees has engaged in quiet vacationing at least once. This might mean mowing the lawn, relaxing at the beach, or watching a series while maintaining an “active” status on work platforms, automating email sending, or even moving the mouse to appear busy.

“This behavior is often driven not by bad intentions but by fatigue or trying to adapt to an environment where vacations are formally allowed but practically frowned upon. While dishonesty – even under pressure – is not the right choice, it often signals a lack of trust and open dialogue about the importance of rest. Employees may fear being perceived as less engaged or responsible simply because they choose to rest, which can lead to poor decisions,” Latyšovič explains.

However, she notes, sometimes quiet vacationing becomes intentional misconduct – when employees deliberately avoid work despite having the opportunity to take official leave:

“Some employees intentionally don’t work but don’t request vacation, preferring to save days for a future trip or for other unethical reasons. In such cases, work remains unfinished while hours are faked. This is more common when working from Lithuania, where simulating work is easier. Vacation days are often ‘saved’ for planned travel abroad.”

Fake Vacations – When You’re on Holiday but Still Working

The flip side is when an employee is officially on vacation but remains engaged with work – checking email, responding to messages, answering colleagues’ questions, or even joining online meetings.

According to Latyšovič, the reason for such fake vacations is often not a conscious choice but inner anxiety and informal pressure to always be “online.” If a manager or colleagues respond to messages or attend meetings during their own vacations, others feel social pressure, making it emotionally difficult to disconnect. Research confirms this: in Q2 2025, 4 in 10 employees felt constant pressure to be reachable even outside working hours (ManpowerGroup global survey).

“Almost always, people return from such vacations more exhausted than before. They haven’t disconnected and have carried guilt and internal conflict – torn between the duty to be available and the need to rest,” says Latyšovič. In such cases, rest not only fails to restore energy but deepens burnout.

Consequences for Employees and Organizations

“Both quiet vacationing and fake vacations have the same result – this kind of ‘rest’ doesn’t allow employees to restore their inner resources,” says Latyšovič.

A major issue arises when employees formally go on vacation but never fully detach – checking emails, responding to messages, or handling tasks because they know no one else will take over.

Worse still is when they are forced to work intensely to finish tasks before leaving, only to return to a pile of new work. In this scenario, vacation becomes just a temporary pause, after which fatigue not only remains but worsens.

“The workload remains the employee’s responsibility, so they feel obliged to keep at least minimal contact with colleagues even during vacation. This creates a vicious cycle: rest becomes a mere formal break, not a true recovery, and thus fails to prevent burnout.”

She adds that quiet vacationing is equally harmful:

“It doesn’t solve the fatigue problem. On the contrary, it creates an inauthentic atmosphere where people simulate work to appear loyal. Over time, this undermines trust and fosters a culture where presence – not results – is valued.”

The Solution – Vacation Seasons

To eliminate quiet vacation culture, organizations must systematically review internal norms, says Latyšovič. Words from leadership aren’t enough – employees need practical conditions to truly disconnect.

More companies are introducing measures to normalize rest: planning collective vacations, setting up automatic email responders, or restricting access to internal systems during time off. Some have implemented “vacation seasons” – agreed-upon times when it’s fully acceptable to use vacation days. Increasingly, all employees are given time off simultaneously, eliminating guilt.

Latyšovič also notes that organizations should track whether employees actually use their right to rest:

“One of the clearest signals is the number of unused vacation days. If people accumulate days but don’t use them, it may not be a matter of time or circumstances – it’s a question of trust and culture,” she stresses. This can be checked through regular employee surveys, assessing emotional well-being and stress at work, and through sincere, open communication between managers and teams.