August is the quintessential holiday month and many are looking forward to this time of year to rest, especially on a mental level.
But do workers really disconnect from work during their vacations? It seems to be less than we should. The fact of taking the office home: the mobile, makes it difficult to rest and enjoy the much deserved vacation.
The Human Resources company Randstad said in its latest report that one in four does not get it and that it is those under 25 who show a higher ratio of employed people who cannot disconnect, with 30.8%
This constant connection can take a toll on employees and as a consequence, have a direct impact on the company in which they work. On the other hand, the law is clear on this issue: the worker has the right to disconnect during his vacation so we must ensure the welfare of our employees.
From Human Resources we have a moral obligation to ensure that any member of the company can enjoy their vacations as they deserve. But how can we help them enjoy their vacations? This series of tips will ensure that work disconnection and rest are real.
Tips for a real job disconnection on vacation
- Make a status of pending issues before leaving. Before the holidays begin, it would be a good idea to inform your colleagues of finished and pending tasks and projects, as well as the status of clients or any relevant topic.
It is normal that when a partner is missing, doubts or any mishaps may arise, so leaving enough information to the knowledge of a few ensures that they can continue to develop their activity without problems, he says.
If everything is left tied before leaving, the possibility of interruptions during the holidays is reduced.
- Auto reply in the mail. Setting up an automatic response in email is essential for those cases in which an employee is not available or located, either because he goes on vacation or for any other reason.
In this way we prevent your contacts from wasting time waiting for an answer. An autoresponder message is a short text that contains only the most relevant information, for example, what is the period of time during which it will not be available and when it can respond again.
It is also possible to include the reason for the absence and give a personal touch to the text. It may also be useful, or even necessary, to indicate the email of another person whom you can contact during this absence.
- Leave the operating computer. The computer is from the company and must be accessible when required. To preserve the privacy of the employee, you must ensure that you close all your sessions on social networks or personal mail, for example.
In case you do not want to share the access password, we can recommend you put a temporary password to share it with a close teammate or one of those responsible.
By leaving the computer accessible, in the event that someone needs some type of information, they can access without disturbing.
- Reduce emergency contact hours. In the event that an important task may arise that you need from a certain team member, even if you are out of the office, the latter must agree with your colleagues the time slot in which it will be available. In this way, your colleagues can have a realistic expectation of when to contact this person and get an answer.
- Notifications disconnected. A mention in a messaging group, an email with an intriguing issue or any notification that is reflected on the mobile during the day tempts to enter and review how everything is going. It is better to avoid temptations and enjoy the holidays, which is what it is all about. If the employee has a business telephone, it is advisable to turn it off or at least restrict work calls.
If a team member complies with the previous steps before leaving, any teammate has all the tools to be self-sufficient even in his absence. There is nothing that cannot wait a few hours and we must ensure that employees disconnect during their vacations because in addition, the law says so.
What the law says about the right to digital disconnection
The legislation leaves no doubt: employees have the right to disconnect both outside working hours and during vacations; Both are situations in which you are not required to answer phone calls or respond to emails. This possibility also includes text or WhatsApp messages that subject workers to unprecedented availability that does not respond to current regulations.
Specifically, according to article 88 of Organic Law 3/2018, of December 5, on the protection of personal data and guarantee of digital rights, workers and public employees will have the right to digital disconnection in order to guarantee, outside the time of Legal or conventionally established work respecting your rest time, permits and vacations, as well as your personal and family privacy.
In short, it is a law that seeks to protect the health of workers by guaranteeing rest time, permits and vacations while protecting their privacy.
Vacation management without dramas for human resources
Organizing before going on vacation is key to disconnecting and returning with charged batteries. However, for human resources the management of vacations can be a workload due to the avalanche of requests or overlaps between dates. For this reason, having a vacation management system can expedite this task.
Sesame's vacation manager allows employees to request the dates that best suit them and easily have their own vacation calendar. Further,
Sesame is much more than an online vacation manager since it manages as many permits as necessary for each of the employees from a single
platform.
With the mobile vacation app, employees can make requests anytime and from anywhere.
