What is ‘quiet vacationing’? Employment lawyer discusses on 640 Toronto

Interview Summary

Many employees have voiced using less than their offered vacation time in a given year. Speculation about why this is led many to believe employees take their vacation while still at work, in a phenomenon called “quiet vacationing.”

Is this considered time theft? Can employers discipline or terminate employees taking advantage of remote work arrangements?

Jon Pinkus, an Ontario employment lawyer and Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, joined 640 Toronto’s Kelly Cutrara to answer these questions and more regarding employer expectations.

Interview Notes

• Time theft by employees: Pinkus explained that there is a spectrum of time theft. “There is the person that just takes the longer lunch or is slacking off or going on the internet for purposes unrelated to work, and then there is someone who takes deliberate action to deceive their employer.”
• Spotting quiet vacationing in the workplace: “I’ve certainly seen an increase in monitoring software,” Pinkus commented. “It’s largely what I’ve seen employers relying on.”
• Negative effect on relationship with employer: Pinkus cautioned that “quiet vacationing” can end the relationship between an employee and employer. “The way that it ends the relationship is if your employer thinks you are deceiving them,” said Pinkus. “Your employer can terminate your employment without cause, though they perhaps don’t have enough that you were doing this deliberately without severance.”
• Follow up by the employer and legal action: “Employers should set out a written warning to the employee,” Pinkus stated. “There are very few cases of that happening (employer taking legal action). It is a pretty extreme scenario. It may be more costly to pursue.”

Related Resources

For further insights and discussions related to employee rights and employer expectations explore the following resources:

• Performance management and discipline
• Employee rights while working remotely