An idea for a New Time Off Benefit

The summer months, and particularly August are synonymous with the "vacation". According to the dictionary, the definition of vacation is as follows:

"1. a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday:"



There is one phrase in that definition that I would dispute, that is "suspension of work".



While I know there are some places where entire business shuts down to go on vacation, that is not the norm. Thus when you are on vacation, the work is not suspended. Especially in HR systems where projects are always in flight, people will be hired/transferred and terminated, payroll will be run and someone will need information from the HR system.




We go into the vacation knowing there will not be a suspension of work. Why else does it take us twice as long to get out of the office the last day worked before vacation than any other day?



If you are like me, it is because you want to make sure that all of the ongoing projects are covered and outstanding questions answered before you go.




Your co-workers have to pick up some of the slack for you, however more than likely you return with an email and voice mail inbox that is overflowing with messages.




There is the "Meeting Mongrel", who knew we were on vacation, but schedules that 8:30am meeting anyway and expects us to have answers to some question that is sitting among the hundreds of emails.



Than there is the "Obsessive emailer", who actually looks and responds to email while on vacation and cannot understand why everyone else does not do this.




Even worse, is the person who tries to give the impression that they are sensitive to your situation, by starting out with "I know you were on vacation, BUT...." Than dumps the whopper on you!




The "vacation glow" , that relaxed look that one returns with having been on a terrific vacation lasts in relative proportion to the amount of material that is in ones inbox.



Today, we don't even have the "vacation re-run" to look forward to. By that I mean the time when we go to the store and get all excited to pick up our vacation photos and relive the memories. With digital camera's, there is no anticipation of what the pictures will look like, we know because we looked at them right after we shoot them to make sure they turned out!



I would like to propose a new type of time off benefit, the "First Day Back". This would be a day you get when you return from vacation where no meetings are allowed to be scheduled and the entire day can be devoted to replying to every email and voice mail that was left in your absence. Than after you are all caught up, the workday can continue as normal on the second day back.



Now, some of us actually try to do this on our own, but we always have those "Meeting Mongrels" who will trip us up because they can.



Having a "First Day Back" day, would greatly increase enjoyment of the vacation. You can be calm in planning knowing that no matter what happens while away, you will have a day to catch up before needing to completely re-engage. Instead of going to bed thinking of the horrors there are to face, one can bask in "Vacation Glow" knowing they have a day to catch up before the craziness starts.



I will be needing a "First Day Back" day later this month. Unfortunately, I don't think I can get the Benefits Department to make this an official time off day in time.



I hope your summer vacations were/will be enjoyable and your "First Day Back" stress free.