Silent sutti

A leave of absence Informing your boss Get with the times Gen Xmdash employees are now taking off without talking about it ldquoQuietrsquo vacationingrdquo if you willMillennial and Gen Z workers are skillfully navigating remote and hybrid work patterns and leaving for vacation without formally announcing it or applying for personal time off The logic is to disconnect just enough to have that funfilled recharge without disrupting workplace dynamics or taking on perception pressureBut why not just apply for leave that you deserve as per law Why are more and more employees hesitating to ask for a proper break A 41yearold chartered accountant working in the service industry in the NCR region explains that the process of taking leave is far from a breeze ldquoEven if your manager approves your leave you are still answerable to the client who could demand a backfillmdasha replacement to take over your work And backfills arenrsquot always available in which case yoursquore asked to finish all your work before taking leave which isnrsquot humanly possible in a short durationrdquoBalasubramanian Sethuraman Jalpa Bhatt and Tejal KariaItrsquos a bit like Cinderella being given permission to attend the royal ball if she can finish all the sweeping and the laundry and darninghellip and find something appropriate to wear ldquoItrsquos been 12 or 13 years and the problem with getting leaves approved remains the samerdquo she says To keep down time private the canny CA takes precautionary measures such as not posting on social media requesting others to not tag her in photos and not adding office colleagues to social media networks In June this year she took a fourday family trip to Ramgarh in Uttrakhand to relax and unwind while also managing work fulltime remotelyAnother professional 43 who works as an assistant vicepresident AVP in sales operations for an MNC in Delhi has similar complaints ldquoWork requires you to be available all the time nowadaysrdquo she explains ldquoWorking from home has started demanding longer hours and with the nature of my work it usually goes on into the night I donrsquot ask for time off because even if you take a leave you are pulled into meetings and need to travel with a laptoprdquoItrsquos natural to wonder whether these halfandhalf escapes allow relaxation at all and at what cost to productivity ldquoYou have to plan the time off during lull periods at work or when you know that key stakeholders are awayrdquo says the AVP who has taken around three such trips this year ldquoIrsquom not able to completely switch off from work but that is never the intention Irsquom available just less responsive and if you have good connectivity you are reachable for urgent requests Still just the change of environment and location helps keep things realmdashitrsquos a reminder that there is more to life than the city and ratracerdquoTejal Karia a psychologist and founder of Wise Ttalks echoes the sentiment ldquoAs a culture we are very kinestheticrdquo she says ldquoWorking from home especially during the pandemic became claustrophobic Vacations like these can refresh onersquos mind Itrsquos a welldeserved break from circumstances that take a toll on mental healthrdquo Karia also highlights the importance of maintaining a healthy balance while on quiet vacation to be able to be recharged and productive simultaneouslyCorporate trainer and psychologist Jalpa Bhatt who practises out of Mumbai and Ahmedabad warns that declining employeremployee accountability is contributing to the rise in quiet vacationing ldquoPeople feel that if they ask for leave they might face pay cuts or their job will be jeopardised This work culture looks disruptive but itrsquos going to be the next normalrdquo she says Like Karia she believes that quiet vacationing can be good for you ldquoIf your productivity is up you are contributing well and your wellbeing is increasing then it doesnrsquot matter if you are working on holidayrdquoFrom the other side of the story the trust conundrum is amplified Balasubramanian Sethuraman head of HR at Parekh Integrated Services a supply chain service provider talks about the importance of building a trustful relationship between employees and managers ldquoItrsquos crucial for employees to feel comfortable enough to inform their managers about taking leaverdquo he says He explains that in India there is a cultural tendency to connect beyond professional boundaries This is an advantage as it allows employees to personally inform their managers through a call or WhatsApp text ldquoHowever if employees presume their leave request will be rejected before even asking it discourages transparencyrdquo he clarifies