« Tracances »or « workation » or « blazer »… The world of management does not lack imagination to designate the alliance between “work” and “holidays”. After two years of pandemic and the rise of remote working, many French people are planning to combine the two: 63% of employees in the tertiary sector, both private and public, plan to telework from their vacation spot this summer, when only 26% say they will make a real “summer break, offline”indicates a survey by the consulting firm Génie des lieux (1).
A trend that is actually not new. “Many executives were already keeping in touch in the summer, because it is difficult to be absent for two or three weeks, specifies Romain Millet, author of the survey. But the practice was not framed, we did not necessarily validate it with the management. » The study shows that, from now on, 58% of French people who will telecommute at their vacation spot will do so in agreement with their superior.
Work at your vacation spot, but not during your vacation
Teleworking before or after the holidays will thus allow employees to extend their stay in the place of their choice and to be more flexible on the dates. The opportunity, for example, to plan trips on weekdays rather than weekends.
But beware : “The right to rest is the nuclear heart of labor law”, recalls Jean-Emmanuel Ray, professor of law at the University of the Sorbonne, specializing in this area. Teleworking is only possible… during working hours! “No agreement authorizes the employee to work during his holidays: neither he nor the employer can split them as they wish”, warns Jean-Emmanuel Ray.
According to the labor code, a boss cannot solicit his employee during his leave (article D3141-1). However, in practice, nothing prevents a manager from working if he wants to, because for “some professions, especially the higher intellectual professions, the line is blurred »continues the lawyer: « Does a journalist work when he reads the newspaper during these holidays? The question is unanswered. »
Disappearance of the boundary between private life and work
However, experts are concerned about the growing porosity between professional and personal life. « 40% of teleworkers find it difficult to get out of their working day, explains Christophe Nguyen, work psychologist. This practice interferes with family life, and we end up with an imbalance in living environments. Thus, having time without any professional occupation is essential. »
For Jean-Claude Delgènes, expert in work organization and founder of Technologia, holidays are also an opportunity for the worker “to take some distance, to renew oneself. They preserve the individual, who is not only a worker, but also a husband, a father, a friend…”
Hence the need to define a clear framework, anticipating this break via rotation systems for example. “It is up to the employer to take the necessary measures to let the people take advantage of their holidays, without being overstretched”, assures Jean-Claude Delgènes, supplemented by Christophe Nguyen: “It’s also management to check that people are resting: it seems infantilizing, but some people forget themselves in the work out of loyalty. »
–
