Workations: everything you need to know

As employees look to find that all-important work-life balance, employers must tread a fine line between supporting employees to work flexibly whilst also being compliant with employment laws surrounding holidays and time off.

In recent years, the concept of workations has grown in popularity. But what are they, and should you be enabling your employees to take them? What potential benefits and consequences could they bring to your small business? Let’s take a look…

What is a workation?

A workation is essentially the idea of working from a holiday. It combines working with going on vacation, allowing employees to work from anywhere in the world, usually in spots traditionally visited on holiday.

On a workation, an employee still works their usual hours, they just do so from a location of their choice anywhere in the world. This means that once they have finished work for the day they can relax on the beach, head for tapas, or explore a cultural site… whatever they choose.

A workation allows employees to take a break from their usual working environment, such as the office, a coffee shop, or their home, without taking a break from the actual work itself.

What are the different types of workations?

There are different types of workations that you can offer employees. The main difference tends to be how long you allow a workation to be.

A long-term workation can last up to a few months, and an employee will fully relocate to their new location whilst still working for your company. A medium-term workation can last anywhere up to a month, while a short-term workation tends to last the same amount of time as a traditional holiday, so anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.

There are various ways staff can embark on a workation, including:

• Adding an extra week to a family holiday, during which they will work from their holiday destination.
• An extended stay with family or friends who live abroad.
• A longer trip on which they can visit multiple places, all while continuing to work their usual working hours.

The difference between workations and digital nomads

You might be thinking that taking a workation sounds a lot like being a digital nomad, and you wouldn’t be wrong: they are similar. But there are some key differences between the two.

A digital nomad is usually someone who has packed up their whole life and is travelling the world from place to place on a digital nomad visa, all whilst working from their laptop. They are often freelancers, although some businesses do support employees who want to adopt a digital nomad lifestyle.

Taking a workation, meanwhile, tends to be a more temporary concept, lasting just a few weeks. The main difference between the two is that an employee on a workation plans to come home and return to their usual way of working, whereas digital nomads don’t.

The benefits of allowing workations

Everyone is always looking for that elusive work-life balance, and after the COVID-19 pandemic opened up the idea of flexible working to a wider workforce, employees are no longer willing to sit in an office for eight hours a day, five days a week.

While many businesses have adopted flexible working policies, you may still be unsure about taking it to the next level and offering the ability to take a workation to your team. There are plenty of benefits of workations, including:

Improved staff culture

Workations provide a more flexible approach to working. They allow employees to visit a location of their choice without having to sacrifice pay or holiday allowance. A workation encourages employees to complete their work within their working hours, allowing them to switch off when they aren’t on the clock, preventing an “always on” culture from forming. Workations can help to reduce burnout and keep employees feeling happy and refreshed.

Better productivity rates

Workations can massively improve an employee’s productivity rate. Think about it – if they have the opportunity to head to the beach or explore a bucket list landmark once they’ve finished their work, they’re going to put the time and effort into getting their tasks completed. When employees are at home or in the office, there’s less incentive to be productive, knowing they can take their tasks into the evening or complete them the next day.

Lower staff turnover rates

Following the pandemic, applicants are looking for businesses that align with their values and how they want to work. Whilst flexible working policies are becoming the norm, workations could be the competition-beating perk that helps you to attract and keep the very best talent.

Increased trust and loyalty

Allowing your employees to take a workation sends a strong message that you trust them. You trust them to manage their time and their workload, and to get the job done no matter where they choose to work. This trust goes both ways and, in turn, you will likely see a more loyal workforce who want to repay your faith.

The drawbacks of allowing workations

Of course, as an employer, you need to think carefully about whether to offer workations, and that includes considering the potential drawbacks too.

Lack of in-person connection

While many staff in office jobs now work from home for at least part of the working week, most employers do expect them to have some office time.

Coming into the office or workplace allows staff to have face-to-face conversations with colleagues and bounce ideas and problems off each other, and offers a more relaxed and natural way to communicate than planned Zoom meetings or Slack channels.

If employees are working from different corners of the world, even temporarily, those in-person days will be lost.

Loss of productivity

As an employer, you will need to decide if your staff would benefit from workations, or if they could end up causing more problems.

One of the main problems could be a loss of productivity. While some staff will absolutely be motivated by the concept of a workation, for others it can be an excuse to not get the job done.

You run the risk of some employees taking advantage of the situation or not having the right connections and resources to hand in order to fully complete their roles.

Workations aren’t for everyone

The fact is that workations aren’t necessarily a perk for everyone, the main drawback from an employee point of view being cost. Staff will have to pay to take a workation, covering the cost of their travel, accommodation, and expenses, as it won’t be covered by you as their employer.

For many people, the thought of paying out money to go on holiday only to continue working makes workations inconceivable. Staff may want to save their money and spend it on a trip where they can totally switch off from all things work-related.

You may also have staff who don’t have the means or personal availability to take a workation, and they may feel aggrieved that colleagues can work from anywhere when they are unable to take up the same opportunity.

Final thoughts: should you offer workations?

So, should you offer workations to staff as part of your flexible working policy?

Of course, there are only certain industries that can offer workations in the first place. Retail and hospitality staff, for example, can hardly take a working holiday as they are needed in person.

For office staff who can work remotely though, workations can be a great way to avoid burnout, open up more opportunities for travel, and help to improve overall wellbeing.

As an employer, you’ll need to weigh up the benefits against the drawbacks and determine whether you trust your staff enough to work from anywhere. If you do decide to offer workations, you’ll also need to ensure you have the infrastructure and systems in place to allow staff to complete their work remotely and from any country.