Bleisure seeing ‘growing popularity’ among Aussie workers

The ever-growing desire for better wellbeing at work has reportedly culminated in an increase in “bleisure” (or business leisure). People are adding personal days to their business trips and creating a work/holiday hybrid.

The phenomenon was outlined is a recent World Travel Protection study, which found that a quarter of respondents are planning to add personal time to a business trip this year.

“Today’s travellers are increasingly seeking a balance between work and leisure, with a quarter of those surveyed looking to incorporate personal time into their business trips this year. This shift reflects an increased focus on general wellbeing, and possibly environmentally conscious travel,” said Rodger Cook, general manager of global security services at World Travel Protection.

“This growing popularity of bleisure travel for Australians underscores the need for organisations to address any grey areas in risk-management strategies. For example, is the company responsible if their employee shifts from a safer hotel for their business travel days to a hostel in a more remote area for the leisure part of their travel?”

There is a clear desire to break away from work and enjoy some time off, as 18 per cent plan to travel more this year and work remotely while away and 9 per cent plan to take a “hush” trip where they’ll work remotely in a different location and not tell their employer.

Cook said: “Bleisure isn’t a new trend, but it’s growing in prominence, and as our data suggests, in some cases, employees may even take hush remote working trips. For organisations, it’s best to plan for this trend and to show workers you can support them and their autonomy.”

Hush trips are actually quite common, with 17 per cent claiming they’ve taken personal time during business trips without informing their employer.

There were a variety of reason for taking up bleisure trips. For 28 per cent of respondents, they felt less burnt out if a work trip allows for a personal day before, during, or after a trip. Meanwhile, 23 per cent did so to be more environmentally friendly.

This can be an effective attraction and retention policy, with 27 per cent noting they’d be more likely to remain at a company that allowed for bleisure.

Despite the rise in bleisure, there are concerns over the duty of care of an employer. Are employees considered to be working during these trips?

According to Allie Levine, director at Sinclair + May, employers must be aware of their responsibilities in these situations.

“There are a number of things that employers need to be aware of when their employees are working overseas, with three key ones being health and safety, security, and the policies employees have in place. The main thing to bear in mind is that just because an employee may be working outside of the office (or state, or even country), this doesn’t alter the employer’s duty of care to them,” said Levine.

“Generally, the less clarity around when work ends and leisure begins, the more problems that can arise. Neither party’s employment obligations cease just because an employee might be overseas or elsewhere. The distinction between work-related and non-work-related injuries can be difficult enough to draw when people are working from home – adding bleisure to the mix is a minefield.”

“If burn injuries from employees making coffee while working from home can be work-related injuries (spoiler: they can), think about the range of issues that might arise from people working wherever they choose. People might be more likely to be doing weird and wonderful things when on holiday, and if they’re doing it while on a work trip, you might be surprised by the kind of things you may be held liable for. Check your insurance policies and make sure you are clear about your expectations for peoples’ behaviour while on work-related business, and when they are no longer going to be considered ‘at work’.”

The new and exciting ways of working in the modern workforce bring challenges of their own, as there is no precedent to draw back on. This is where employers need to be proactive about policy and ensure employees are safe and protected at all times.