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A12 BUSINESS
Friday 10 March 2023

Should remote workers take hush trips?

Experts weigh in

By SALLY FRENCH
of NerdWallet
Emily Smith was working
two jobs at a hotel and at
a retail store when she re-
alized she was in dire need
of a break. Smith, based
in Vancouver, British Co-
lumbia, says her employ-
ers didn’t usually approve
of her vacation days, so
she invented a fake fam-
ily emergency, claiming
she’d need to work from A passenger jet approaches Kansas City International Airport
home. Instead, she went to to land as geese fly overhead, Friday, Dec. 30, 2022, in Kansas
Las Vegas. City, Mo.
“I took meetings poolside, Associated Press
and I timed my flights to sioned a survey, conduct- u points to another nega-
happen outside working ed by Wakefield Research, tive consequence: the
hours,” she says. “All my about hush trips and other breakdown of trust be-
work was completed in a travel trends in September tween employees and
timely manner so neither of 2022. According to the sur- managers.
my bosses ever asked.” vey , 56% of working Ameri- “The leader always finds
That was back in 2012, can adults said they are out, driving them to won-
when most jobs demand- “very” or “extremely” likely der why the employee was
ed an in-person presence. to partake in a hush trip. trying to hide something
About 10 years later, more And 36% of Generation X in the first place,” he says.
people are working re- and millennials claim to al- “This erosion of trust can be
motely (or poolside like ready have one planned a cancer to team dynam-
Smith). According to U.S. for 2023. ics.” Lisa M. Sanchez, a hu-
Census Bureau data re- For those with employ- man resources executive
leased in 2022, more than ers that are stingy about at ArtCenter College of
27.6 million people worked vacation days, hush trips Design, says she’s not con-
primarily from home in can provide rejuvena- vinced employees are ef-
2021. That’s triple the num- tion. However, some em- fective while on hush trips.
ber of people working from ployers disapprove of the “Who’s motivated to work
home in 2019, before the secrecy and don’t want when there’s a turquoise
COVID-19 pandemic. workers anywhere besides beach and a fruity drink
Even with the rise of remote their home office, period. waiting for them?” San-
work, some workers are But does it even matter if chez says. “What does one
hesitant or don’t feel the workers share their where- do if they are called into
need to tell their employ- abouts? an impromptu emergency
ers when they plan to work PROBLEMS THAT CAN AC- meeting and they are in
from another location out- COMPANY HUSH TRIPS flight?”
side of their home. That’s Amy Marcum, a human Then there are also security
why they’ve started taking resource manager with HR concerns around bringing
“hush trips,” where employ- service provider Insperity employer-issued comput-
ees work from a vacation , warns that hush trips can ers out of town or logging
destination without reveal- cause friction if word gets onto unknown Wi-Fi net-
ing their true whereabouts out. works. Plus, there could be
to their boss. Often, these “Some employees may unexpected tax implica-
workers will take advan- feel that their colleagues tions for employers if work-
tage of leisure activities in are taking advantage of ers are working from an-
their off hours, combining the generous work-from- other state or country too
work and play into one trip. home policies, leading to long.
Recreational vehicle rental conflicts,” she says. WHY HUSH TRIPS AREN’T
website RVshare commis- Executive coach Robin Po NECESSARILY A BAD THING
The whole premise of a
hush trip might help expose
problems in the workplace
to begin with. “Leaders
need to look themselves
in the mirror and wonder
what type of environment
they’ve created where
their team member doesn’t
feel comfortable having
conversations directly with
them,” Pou says.q