- The number of “quiet holidays,” in which employees take time off without informing their superiors, is on the rise.
- CEO David Bercow said employees don't feel the need to sneak out to take time off.
- He advocates trusting employees to get work done whenever and wherever is convenient for them.
Taking quiet vacations — without telling your boss, or working around the world — is becoming more popular.
Millennials in particular seem to love this trend: Nearly four in 10 millennial respondents to a recent Harris Poll admitted to taking time off without telling their boss.
So what can a boss do if they want to stop employees from sneaking out of the office without their knowledge?
It all comes down to building a culture of trust with employees, said David Bercow, CEO and founder of Florida-based PR firm Curve Communications.
“Enjoy your life, but get the job done,” Berkow told Business Insider while explaining his approach. “From the moment I hire you, from the first minute, I trust you to get the job done in the way that's most comfortable for you.”
In practice, this culture can take many forms: An employee might work a few hours early in the morning and then leave early to make it to their child's swim meet, or take a three-week trip to Europe, taking the first week off with pay and working different hours for the next two.
Bercow said that thanks to the open and flexible culture that is actively encouraged and practiced by senior management, employees don't feel like they need to sneak out just to take a break.
“It's completely culture-driven,” he said.
Varcoe believes the reason people take quiet leave is because they feel their employers don't trust and respect them, so they take the time off they want anyway.
While some managers worry that having a culture of flexibility will mean less work, Berkow has found the opposite to be true: When Curve moved to fully remote work in 2020, Berkow says he quickly realized he'd never return to the office again.
“It was going well. It motivated people,” he said.
While the story may be different in a company with thousands of employees, “in a smaller organization, if you're not doing your job, it's a lot harder to hide that,” Varcoe said, adding that if someone has misbehaved, they likely aren't the right fit for the team.
Ashton Mathai, associate director of content at Barcoe's company, told BI that he takes full advantage of Curve's unlimited PTO policy and work-from-anywhere culture.
Last year, Mathai traveled around Europe for two months. He took 10 days of paid vacation at the start of the trip, and spent the rest of the time working in places like Scotland, Amsterdam, Portugal, and Italy. Because of the different time zones, he often worked from 1pm to 8pm local time, and spent the morning sightseeing or going to the beach.
“I lived in the mornings and worked in the afternoons and evenings,” she said.
Mathai said that before he left, his superiors told him they had full confidence that he would get the job done in his absence.
“It wasn't intimidation, it was really complete confidence,” she said, “so I went in there and did my job wanting to make them proud and wanting to do my job proud of myself.”
In addition to working overseas, she said she also enjoys ample paid vacation time — earlier this year she traveled to India with her family for two weeks and didn't work.
“He has been strongly encouraged by management, including David himself, to take a leave of absence,” Mathai said of Barko.
Berkow said that while many companies offer unlimited paid time off in theory, saying one thing and doing another is different, and he's keen to encourage those who are taking advantage of Curve's flexible culture while offering a positive warning.
“You have to be ready and willing to say that your personal life is part of your work culture,” he said, “not the other way around, that your work culture is part of your personal life.”
